The Consuming Desert
by G01den Unicorn 11
Summary: Modern day setting of a Legend of Zelda adventure. When Link finds himself abruptly adopted from his orphanage, he must learn to adapt to both a new home and a new school. But soon a new threat emerges, and the boy is plagued with a question: does he really have what it takes to become the Hero of Hyrule? M for strong language.
1. Prologue

Cover art by PiAddict. Used with permission. Go to my profile to find a link to his DeviantArt page.

The full list of everyone who helped me better this story is too extensive to give here. I will be sure to credit everyone individually at the end. For now: thank you very much, anyone who helped.

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**Prologue**

Zelda swatted at the snooze button on her blaring alarm clock and collapsed back into her bed. The dreams were getting worse.

Vague premonitions had haunted her sleep for as far back as she remembered, but of late they had increased in intensity. It had gotten to the point where she could hardly close her eyes without seeing half-starved Hylians crawling through a burning wasteland, or some frightening visage of an unknown god, glaring down from the starless heavens.

Lullabies did not help. Sleeping pills did not help. Perhaps the ancient princesses had some magical ability to deal with such conditions, but the only thing keeping Zelda sane was the boy at the end of the dreams, standing at the center of an encroaching darkness, sword pointed heavenward. There was a special light within him, though she felt it, rather than seeing it. It pierced invisibly through the clouds, illuminating her soul with hope.

Except in some dreams, the Hero did not appear.

Her alarm came to life once more, and the princess grudgingly turned it off and crawled out from under her sweat-drenched sheets. If it were only a month later, she could have opened a window and refreshed herself with the cool morning air. But this was mid-August, and even at six-thirty, the outside temperature would already be tiringly hot.

She contented herself by glancing at the posters (and the occasional portrait) that lined her walls. She had long been in love with the ancient legends of the Hero of Hyrule, ever since her mother had first told her of the Imprisoning War. Her collection of drawings of the Hero had grown quickly. The details varied from artist to artist, just as the tale changed in the telling. Sometimes he was a blond-haired youth with a level head and a closed mouth. Other times he was a dashing adventurer with piercing green eyes, a penchant for trouble, and a passion for irresponsible pyrotechnics. But what always shone through was a certain purpose, a singleness of thought, a refusal to let Hyrule submit to the forces of darkness.

And now he had returned. At least, that was what she hoped the dreams meant, if they meant anything at all. The alternatives did not bear thinking about.

She proceeded with the stretching exercises Nabooru had taught her, and as her muscles limbered she felt some of the stress draining from her. She would need a clear mind for the task ahead.

She had always hated the sleek blue limousine that ferried her everywhere from school, to her play dates, and now to the orphanage. She supposed it was possible that she had once enjoyed bouncing upon the leather seats or playing with the sleek array of buttons that lined the front of the passenger cabin. It was possible that she had once been taken in by the absolute luxury of it, back before she was old enough to truly remember such things. But as far as she knew, it had always felt like the prisons of olden times, hidden beneath the castle. It blocked nearly all signs of the outside world. The tinted windows hid the sunlight, and the muted interior blocked even the soft rumble of the engine. It was nearly enough to make her suffocate.

She tried to find alternate means of travel when she could, but they only went so far. Riding her bike to school in midwinter was hardly an option, and her guardian Nabooru would never allow her to simply go running through downtown Castle Town.

Said guardian currently sat across from her, scowling at a notebook. Even after nine years, Zelda still sometimes found herself intimidated by the intensity of the Gerudo. Perhaps it was the fire-red plume of hair, gathered together in a luscious ponytail that fell all the way to her lower back. Perhaps it was the gem set upon her forehead, that sometimes caught the sunlight and seemed to add an other-worldly gleam to her dark brown eyes. Much of it probably had to do with the tales her mother had told her, before Nabooru had entered her life.

They were stories from ancient history, of great wars, of reconstruction, of love and sorrow and hope. But no matter the setting, no matter the style, the Gerudo were there, looting and burning. Most fearsome of all was Ganondorf Dragmire, the eternal king who, if tales could be believed, had driven Hyrule to ruin countless times throughout history. The Gerudo were always the villains, the soulless fiends.

Many of their number had since settled in among the Hylians, but they remained distrusted, even a century after the integration began. Even half a millenium since the last threat from the desert. Zelda wondered if she would have shared this bigoted fear, had her Gerudo guardian not saved her from a fiery death.

The snap of Nabooru flipping shut her notebook drew Zelda from her reverie. The Gerudo cast it down beside her and crossed her arms with a huff. Much of the dark intensity had melted from her face, but her brow still held a deep furrow.

"This is the seventh one, Zelda," she said. "I didn't even know Castle Town had this many orphanages."

"We'll go to as many as it takes," Zelda responded with a shrug. "He will turn up, somewhere." She gazed out the tinted window to hide whatever uncertainty her face was showing. When she had begun this project, she had expected to visit two, maybe three orphanages at most. She was fated to meet him, after all, wasn't she? But every passing week, every new failure screamed that this was hopeless, that she was a fool for believing the ancient texts and the odd dreams.

"And if that fails? If we don't find this hero of yours at any orphanage in the city? Will you search the entire country?"

"If I must." She turned to meet Nabooru's level stare, for as much as she doubted this quest, she knew that she had spoken the truth. She would never give up. Hyrule was facing a new threat, and its hero would rise once again to defend it. She had to believe it, she just had to. If the dreams were not prophetic, then they might point to insanity, and that thought was too terrifying even to consider.

Nabooru sighed and picked up her notebook again. Zelda couldn't blame her skepticism; Zelda's actions would certainly seem foolish to one who had not had the dreams herself, who had not seen the fire spreading across the land, consuming all. But if her father had taught her anything, it was that one does not make history simply by doing what is expected of her.

The buzzing of her cellphone served as a nice distraction from her worries about the plan. She eagerly snatched it from the brown leather purse by her side.

"hey, wan2 get br8kfast? brother found sweet pancake place"

Zelda sighed. She had told Desiree her plans for that morning just yesterday. Twice even. That girl could probably manage to forget something even if you tattooed it on her arm. Zelda giggled to herself as she composed her response.

"I'm visiting another orphanage today, remember? :)"

The reply came back just seconds later:

"thats wat 10 now zel? u &amp; ur orphans ;)"

Zelda sighed. Of course, she hadn't told anyone but Nabooru about her quest to find the Hero. As far as everyone else knew, she was trying to get involved in the community and make a few poor children's days a bit brighter. She just wished they had tried to understand. The best of her friends thought it a cute diversion. Most thought she was doing something weird. No one would ever say that to her face of course, but she heard the whispers all the same. It couldn't be helped, she supposed. You didn't get to both be a princess and fit in with everyone.

She hurriedly typed up a half-hearted response about dinner, then put her phone away as the limousine pulled to a stop.

"We're here!" Zelda announced to no one in particular.

"You are planning on changing before you get out, yes?" Nabooru cut in as Zelda reached for the door.

Zelda sighed. She was wearing a pair of faded pink shorts and a pale blue baby tee that had the lightest fabric she could find. In short, it was the perfect attire for the blistering August heat. She knew better, of course, but she had to protest. It was a matter of principle.

"Really?" she pleaded in the best whine she could muster.

"The children here have been told that they shall see a princess, and a princess is what they shall see." Her voice was dry, bored even, but Zelda thought she saw the Gerudo almost crack a smile.

"But it's so hot," she groused as she began pulling off her clothes. The dress could have easily fit over the thin garments, but this was one princess who wasn't wearing any more layers than she absolutely had to.

"Besides, what if someone tries to kidnap me?" she continued as she retrieved a spare royal dress that hung in a hidden side compartment. "I can't outrun anyone in a dress."

"Zelda, if you fail to outrun a dead person, then I have abysmally failed you in your training." Nabooru grinned and ran a finger along the ceremonial scimitar that was always at her side. Of course, Zelda did not believe for a second that that was the only weapon her guardian carried. The scimitar was just what she wanted everyone paying attention to.

Zelda just rolled her eyes and turned to let Nabooru lace up her back. Changing clothes in a vehicle was not terribly pleasant, but it was a skill she had mastered long ago. She would do anything to get away with just five fewer minutes of wearing a dress, or whatever other manner of traditional fanciness her father sought to impose upon her.

But of course, she'd run right into this one herself. Six weeks in a row of putting on a dress, and here she was pressing toward number seven. Maybe she really was growing up. Maybe next time she'd even come out to the limousine in her finest dress and let Nabooru try to figure out what was wrong.

Fully attired once more, she pressed the button that signaled the chauffeur and waited for him to open her door. Because even though they were parked in the back, well off the road, she had to make a proper exit just in case someone, somewhere happened to be watching.

When the man opened the door, she immediately envied his sunglasses. She blinked her eyes against the sudden onslaught of light before stepping out into the late summer heat.

Even as she began her approach, the rickety screen door on the back of the building creaked open and a tall man whom Zelda took to be the manager sauntered out. In spite of the heat, he wore a long-sleeved shirt buttoned all the way to the top and adorned with a simple green tie. His bright smile threatened to outdo the sun, but then he bowed low, presenting her with his perfectly cut brown hair.

"You honor us with your visit, Your Highness."

"It will be a pleasure," Zelda responded with the well-rehearsed words as the man came out of his bow. "Thank you for making time for me, Mr. …?"

"Chad Timmons, if it please Your Highness," the man said, leading them the rest of the way to the building. "I own the place, keep it running as well as I can, but it's really that staff that does most of the work. You'll meet Rebecca this morning. Nice girl, very diligent." He grabbed the door and held it open.

Zelda passed through into a large kitchen where a pair of cooks bustled about. It was cleaner and better equipped than many she had seen in the past few weeks, but it still paled in comparison to that of the Lanayru Orphanage at the heart of Castle Town. The breakfast feast they had pulled off, complete with custom omelettes and pancakes the size of dinner plates, had made even Zelda slightly jealous.

Mr. Timmons led her through the bustling team of cooks and into the dining room beyond, where a handful of young children greeted her with a cheerful "Good morning, Your Highness."

Zelda put on her best smile and turned to face the adorable welcoming party. Four boys and two girls stood in a perfect line, all bowed at the waist so far they were nearly parallel to the floor. Behind them stood a young black-haired woman whose bow seemed even deeper, if that were possible. None were hero material.

"Up, up," Zelda laughed. "You can't very well show me how to serve food if you're all looking at the ground."

Mr. Timmons sent the woman off to rouse the other orphans while Zelda got set up. A curly-haired boy with shining brown eyes eagerly guided her through their daily process of washing their hands and getting the food ready. She would be responsible for the apple slices, it turned out.

"They get five," the boy, named Brandon, emphasized.

As she waited for the rest of the orphans to arrive, Zelda did her best to prepare herself for the line-up. That's how she had come to think of these weekly breakfasts. Except in most line-ups, you had actually seen the person you were looking for before. All she had to go on were fleeting dreams and fragments of history which agreed on nothing but his clothing. And her Hero was unlikely to be wearing a green tunic and tall leather boots in an orphanage, or anywhere else for that matter. Where would he even find a tunic?

His hair could be blond, or maybe it was brown, or something in between. He could be right or left handed, maybe blue eyes, maybe green, and he was probably not tall. That was really all she had to go on. But it would be enough. It had to be enough. She was Princess Zelda of Hyrule. If she couldn't pick the Hero out of a line-up... well that would just be stupid. The Princess always knew the Hero. Surely if all the stories agreed on something, it had to be true.

She was still trying to convince herself of this when the main dining room door swung open, and in marched the parade of orphans. The excited whispers that ran throughout the line were much the same as those that had greeted her elsewhere. Most of the children said "Good morning, Your Highness," as they came by with their trays. Some just stared at their feet and mumbled. Each one she gave five apple slices, with Brandon standing right by her side to remind her in case she got confused.

The children's faces did not take long to start blurring together in her mind. Some had rosy cheeks and strawberry hair, others a pale complexion, some dark, some with freckles, and even one she suspected might be a Gerudo. She tried to look at each as intently as possible without staring, but she could not help thinking that one looked much the same as another. And there were certainly none with... with the presence she had felt in the dream.

Besides that, she saw no one older than ten. The Hero was supposed to be near her age. She had only seen one orphan as old as fifteen on her little tour, and that had been a girl. Most were adopted well before then. But he couldn't have been adopted. Not yet. He had to be alone before he began his quest. That was just how it worked.

When all had been served, she tried not to let her disappointment show and she and six other servers grabbed food for themselves. There was something that just felt right about this one. But it was a loss, once more. Though Nabooru was far too refined to ever say "I told you so," she knew her guardian was thinking it all the same.

She managed to pull off the rest of the visit with her typical good nature, but it was a struggle. As she read to them from Hyrule Historia of the Imprisoning War, a crimson-haired girl snuggled up beside her, she couldn't help but picture the boys around her trying to wear the Hero's tunic, to wield the Master Sword. They died, every one, before the quest even began. She turned her despair into bitter overtones that served to highlight the darker aspects of the story.

This quest was wearing on her. She did not know how much failure she could handle. How many more orphanages would it take to break her? If the goddesses were good, she would not find out.

At last the visit came to an end. She bid the beaming children farewell and returned to her limousine.

"Ugh, I need coffee," Zelda moaned as the vehicle pulled away from the orphanage.

"Zelda, there are people all over the country who get up at six-thirty without coffee and do just fine."

"Oh, I'm sure there are," Zelda replied, slipping out of her dress, "But I'm just a frail princess. It's hazardous to be up any earlier than 7:00."

"Frail indeed? I feel like I should be recording this. For the next time you decided to dart out into the middle of heavy traffic."

"Nabooru, that was three years ago!"

Nabooru just rolled her eyes and pressed a button on the side.

"James, find a decent coffee shop. We're taking a detour."

Zelda grinned. She had only been allowed to drink coffee for a year now, and already she couldn't imagine how she ever got up without it. She hadn't had time that morning, and the headache was rather annoying.

She barely had time to change back into her summer attire when they stopped, and at her signal James opened the door.

"Cuccos and Coffee, huh?" she said, reading the letters lining the top of the building.

"A sandwich shop, Your Highness, though I am told they have rather exquisite coffee as well," James offered.

Zelda shrugged. At this point, she might just settle for caffeinated water. She thanked the chauffeur and entered. The blast of the air conditioning covered her body with chills, and suddenly she wished she had selected clothing with a little more fabric. Even so, it wasn't too uncomfortable, and by the time she had a steaming hot cup of coffee in her hands it would be quite pleasant.

She placed her order and sat down at a table far from the window as she waited for it to arrive. Dressed like a typical teenager, few people would stop to recognize her as Hyrule's princess. Still, there was no point in taking chances by letting every random passerby see her. She idly wondered if normal people ever had to think about such things.

Nabooru slid in opposite her. She did not have her notebook. The full force of her gaze bore down upon Zelda. It was all she could do not to squirm.

"How much longer will this go on?" Nabooru's quiet tone did not make her words any less menacing. "This is a foolish dream, Zelda. It is a waste of your time, and every passing week adds more to the disappointment you will feel when you realize this."

"You know the histories as well as I do," Zelda shot back. "The women of this family have the power of prophecy. I know what I dreamed."

"Yes, I know the histories. The line of Hylia may have prophesied once, but the old magics are gone. You are a princess, and you have a duty."

"I am doing that duty."

"You are chasing a baseless wish." Nabooru's face was so close to hers that she could see her dilated pupils, feel the air coming from her nostrils. "You think you are special, princess? You are an accident, a random mixing of your parents' genetic code. You think you have some greater purpose? Some divine mission? You think yourself so great that the Goddess would trust you and you alone with the fate of Her children? You think-"

Suddenly, she cut off and whipped her head to the side. Zelda followed her gaze until her eyes landed on a young waiter in the green uniform of Cuccos and Coffee, standing beside their table.

"Um, I'm sorry to interrupt, miss, but your coffee is ready."

Zelda's hand trembled as she reached up to accept the cup. A crop of unkempt blond hair fell about his ears, and he stared down at her with the widest, purest blue eyes she had seen but once before.

Her hand grasped the cup, but his did not let go.

"Are you okay? You don't look too well. I think the manager has some aspirin, if..."

"I feel absolutely wonderful," Zelda said, not taking her eyes from his. His arm slowly retracted.

"If you say so then," he said and returned to work.

"Zelda?" Nabooru prompted. "What was that?"

Zelda turned to her and grinned.

"I've found him."

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**A/N:**

A note on characters: As you may have noticed, this work contains OCs. There are simply too many characters that it would be awfully contrived to do this otherwise. One or two will even play major roles in the plot. You will still get your fix of the classic characters, though, I can promise you that.

Additionally, I am doing some donation matching. Check my profile for details.


	2. Chapter 1

****Challenge:** **Can you name all the unnamed canon characters in this chapter?

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**Chapter 1**

Breakfast at the orphanage was always a lively affair, but today it threatened to be particularly overwhelming. Not only had they received a visit from a real live princess just the day before, but there was a picnic scheduled for the afternoon. It would be their last one before school began once more, and the room itself seemed to squirm in excitement.

But as children around him chattered about the coming events, Link just stared down into his murky bowl of oatmeal. He had completely missed Princess Zelda's visit because of his job, and these picnics never ended well for him. He tried his best to feel happy for the remaining orphans, he really did. Each time their obnoxious screaming assaulted his ears, he tried to tell himself it was 'vivacious' instead. He tried to pretend he was like Miss Rebecca, who _always_ had a rosy smile for everyone, no matter how badly they misbehaved. But in the end, nearly everyone he had been friends with had long since been adopted, and what remained was a cluster of boys and girls slightly older than half his age at best.

The one exception to this was Fado. She had been at the orphanage nearly as long as Link, yet somehow she never let that depress her. She skipped more often than she walked, and sang quite frequently. Somewhat too frequently given her complete lack of talent, but it was song regardless.

Said girl had just approached the table, her breakfast tray laden with a plethora of fruits and a bottle of chocolate milk, and sat down across from him.

"'Morning, Link! Ready for the picnic?" she said, beaming. Somehow, the pair of neon blue sunglasses resting atop her head made her wide smile seem even more ridiculous. They weren't even going to leave for a few more hours.

"Yep," he told her. "Picked up a book from the library on the way home yesterday."

"Oh no. This is the last picnic before school. You can't spend it reading a stupid book under a stupid tree."

Link opened his mouth to reply, but she raised a finger and violently shushed him from across the table.

"You are going to have fun. I am going to make you, and that's that," she said, crossing her arms. Her face squished into a stern glare, but her eyes shone with concealed laughter.

"As you command," Link said, and she collapsed into a fit of giggling. "But no families."

"Don't worry Link," Fado returned. "There's plenty to do on picnics without families or books."

In reality, these picnics they had were little more than excuses to showcase the orphans to families interested in adoption. This was the real reason why he couldn't look forward to the outing like the others did. He used to love playing the games the strange adults provided: kickball, scavenger hunts, or even just card games when the weather turned cold. But as friend after friend found themselves a new home, his hope faded. Even that brat Mido had found some widowed teacher to take him in. Meanwhile, no one seemed to even notice Link.

Rather than join the activities and get his hopes crushed yet again, of late he had taken to sitting apart with his homework, or just a book during the summer. He would even pick up an extra shift at _Cuccos and Coffee_, when Miss Rebecca allowed it.

"Oh, stop looking like that. This is going to be awesome, you'll see." As she went off listing all the things that might occupy their time ("We could pick dandelions!"), Link finished the rest of his breakfast in silence. That was one of the good things about being friends with Fado: you never really had to talk much.

The oatmeal was far less watery than the thin brothy substance they usually got. There was even a bowl of brown sugar and all sorts of blueberries and strawberries to ornament it with. Leftovers from the Princess's visit, no doubt. Brandon, one of his roommates, had said they had even had pancakes as large as plates. Those all appeared to be gone, however, and Link was sure the improved oatmeal would follow close behind.

Once they all finished eating and had scrubbed the tables clean, there was little else to do before the bus left at ten. Most began to play, stepping outside for a game of tag or clustering around the television in the corner of the larger dining room to watch the morning cartoons. Link told Fado he'd see her at the picnic and returned to his room, and to his bed.

He had not slept the night through since July, perhaps June. The dreams had not yet begun then. At first, it was just a bolt of terror, striking him from his slumber. As the nights passed, a scowling face began to take form, a face with burning eyes. Red eyes. Eyes that knew him, eyes that consumed him. They stared him down, bending him under their fury, until finally he woke up, back in the room he had slept in his whole life.

At one point he had grown too frightened to sleep. Once his three roommates had begun their gentle snores, he would creep down from his bed, fighting off sleep. But exhaustion had soon consumed him. The second time he had awoken on the floor with a stiff neck and a numb arm, he resigned himself to the terror of sleep. He had dreamed no less when he slept on the floor anyway.

He kicked off his shoes and crawled beneath his covers, which were still damp from his sweat. The sheets became rank very quickly now, but he saw no way to clean them more often than once a week without rousing suspicion. If Mr. Timmons found out he'd been having chronic nightmares, he might put him somewhere else. Somewhere worse. He had heard stories of those who could not handle the loss of their parents and been sent to the asylum. He knew better than to believe everything they said, of course, but the thought still unnerved him. Besides, he could still _think_ well enough. It was sleeping that was the problem.

He set his alarm for 9:30. It was only an hour away, but that suited Link best. He had done some research at the library and found that dreams usually didn't happen until after ninety minutes of sleep. Trying to time his sleep so that he was never asleep for more than ninety minutes at a time had been another failed experiment. He couldn't bring himself to keep it up regularly, but a nice short nap with the morning sun warming his bed would be refreshing. Link closed his eyes and dozed.

As it turned out, Link got not one, but two naps before the picnic. Bus rides were another good source of dreamless slumber, once Fado's chatter blurred into a background of white noise.

"You're so lazy," she said, shaking him awake at their destination. "I bet you'd even sleep through your own birthday, if Miss Rebecca let you."

They followed the crowd out of the bus. It was parked before a large expanse of grass. Here and there, large gnarled oaks stood tall, the promise of cool shade beneath their great boughs.

Already some orphans were running down the dirt path that led to a wide pavilion where the latest group of strange adults waited with their food and their toys. Past the pavilion, the path wandered on, twisting lazily until it led into a grove of trees.

"Go play!" Miss Rebecca called over the bustle. "Lunch will be ready soon enough."

It did not take long for for a balding man with an broad chest and a voice like a charging bull to organize a game of kickball with some of the boys. Meanwhile, a plain-faced young woman with two neat pigtails brought out some dolls, and a tall, man with long black hair and weathered leathery skin began a four-way game of catch.

Fado grabbed his hand and tugged him away from the various games, under the shade of one of the trees.

"Wait there, this is gonna be awesome," she said, scampering off.

Link sighed and steeled himself for whatever game of pretend Fado had planned. At least, that was what he thought she had planned. There was little else to do without involving the visiting families. The only toys there were what the visitors brought, probably to encourage the children to interact and bond with them. There were hiking trails in Lanayru park, but leaving the immediate grassy area would require adult supervision.

She soon returned, followed by two small girls. Michelle and Sandra, he thought they were called. A few years ago he had known the name of everyone in the orphanage. So many had come and gone since then, he was now hardly ever sure of anything.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Link asked.

"You always say that," Fado pouted. "This'll be fun; we're playing house! You're the hard-working husband, just home from a day at the office. I'm your loyal wife, and Michelle and Sarah are our children."

Oh, _Sarah_. That was her name. As similar as they looked, Sarah and Michelle could very well have been sisters. Slightly taller than Link's leg, they both wore their brown hair in ponytails and giggled incessantly. They even wore matching purple sundresses.

"So, house. Alright then. What do I do?" Link said. It sounded a lot like the hero games he used to play with Pipit, except without the monsters, or swords, or anything else that made hero games exciting.

"Well, you're tired from another hard day at work. Why don't you go sit down in your favorite chair, take off your shoes and relax," Fado said, pointing at the tree. Complying, Link sat down against it with a sigh. He took off his shoes and socks and let the grass tickle his feet.

"How was your day, honey?" Fado said, giving him a sweet smile that appeared horribly out of place on the young troublemaker.

"Er… it was hard. Really hard," Link said, floundering for a suitable answer. "I'm beat, yeah. Lots of paperwork, you know?"

"Story, daddy!" Michelle said.

"Yeah, daddy, story! Please?" Sarah echoed.

The two bounded up to him, grabbing him by each arm. They stared up at him with their little green eyes as they continued to shout story, until Link had no choice but to consent.

"All right, all right, just calm down and I'll tell you a story," he said.

He waited to begin until they had settled down. Both chose to snuggle tight against him, rendering his arms immobile. Link didn't complain. It was better than being rejected by yet another family.

"This is a tale of the Hero, whose name is forgotten," he said, beginning with the traditional opening. "He has been called many things: Hero of Time, Hero of the Winds, Chosen of the Goddess. Today he is called The Wanderer."

'Wanderer.' The word surprised him. He had never heard any tales of a Wanderer Hero before, and he was certainly not going to make up something new on the spot. But the name flowed out of him before he could think about it, and before he could stop himself he continued the story.

_ Now the Wanderer was on a great journey, for he had grown restless in his home country. Many foreign lands he saw, and islands hidden in the Great Sea as well. From the fairies, he learned much of magic, and with the knights of Celathim did he refine his skill with the sword. _

_ But the time had come to return home, for there was a great foreboding in his heart that spoke of yet another threat. So the Wanderer found himself a ship and turned back to his land of Hyrule. _

_ As the ship sailed homeward, it came across a great storm. The sea roared, the thunder cracked, and despite the Wanderer's best efforts the ship broke apart in the fury of the sea. _

_ The Wanderer grabbed hold of a spar of wood. He held tight as the sea buffeted him, but alas, the storm was too great, and he was thrown from the spar._

_ How he survived he could not say. The next thing he remembered was his awakening. A feather bed in a warm cottage, a fair maiden tending to his wounds. Her eyes were the deep blue of the ocean, and her red hair the flame of the sun._

_ As the Wanderer's body grew stronger under the care of the Maiden, so did his love for her. He saw in her the joy of adventure, the spark of life almost extinguished in Hyrule under the power of the Great Enemy. And as he mended, and took to his feet once more, his heart grew heavy, for he knew that the day would soon come when he would leave her. _

_ "I have a duty, my love, and I must needs return to Hyrule," he told her._

_ "That is impossible; for I tell you true: no man may leave this isle while the Wind Fish sleeps," the Maiden answered._

_ And so, when he regained the use of his sword, the Wanderer set out on a quest to wake the Wind Fish. He fought his way across marshes and plains, over mountains and through forests, collecting the instruments which were said to hold the power to wake the Wind Fish. The monsters of the island fell to his blade. They learned to fear the name of the Wanderer and cower at his approach. He soon had many instruments, and it seemed that the end of his quest drew near._

_ But one day, he came upon a shrine, hidden in lands where no man had dared to tread in centuries. It was protected by a dark magic, and guardians of living stone that sought to bar his passage, but the Wanderer entered nonetheless._

_ The shrine contained but a single tablet. "Human, Monster, Sea, Sky: A scene on the lid of a sleeper's eye. Awake the dreamer, and all will vanish as a bubble on a needle," it read. When the Wanderer saw those words, he knew it in his heart to be true._

_ He gnashed his teeth and cursed the heavens, but the words remained unchanged. Even so, he would not be swayed from his quest, for he had sworn a vow, and he would challenge even the Goddesses to uphold it. _

_ At last he stood before the slumbering Wind Fish, seven instruments of the Sirens in hand. But before he could finish his quest, a fell wind blew through the room, and the torches fluttered out, and a shadow formed._

_ It attacked the Wanderer with all its strength, lashing out with a dark force that drove him ever backward. But the Wanderer was undeterred. He kept his eyes upon his foe, and when the chance arose his sword pierced into the heart of the darkness._

_ The shadow let out a great scream that shook the walls. It altered its form into that of a great snake; and when the Wanderer defeated that too, the shadow did reach into the deepest darkness and draw forth the form of the enemy: the one called Ganon, the Great Usurper, the Scourge from the Desert, the King of Evil._

_ For days the battle raged, the Wanderer and the shadow of his eternal enemy locked together before the Wind Fish. As the Wanderer grew weary, and his blade began to falter, he saw once more the sweetness of his home, and the forests and rivers and people that inhabited it; and he knew that he would never allow himself to fall._

_ "You cannot hold me back, you beast, you shade of a fallen monster. I shall be Hyrule's Shield so long as those such as you seek to defile it; yea, even unto the end of time," he cried, and cleft the enemy's great sword from his own hands._

_ "Strike me down if you will, but know first what you will lose." So saying, the shadow took on one last form, and the Wanderer fell to knees before the Maiden who had stolen his heart._

_ "Stay with me, my love. Show me the secrets of the island. Be happy, my love, and set yourself free."_

_ "Yes, I shall be free, but not happy. I could never again be happy in a world without you." _

_ With tears staining his face, the Wanderer lifted his sword and plunged it deep into her stomach. As her life fled from her, she opened her heart and poured forth one last song. She filled the dark room with the only beauty it would ever know. At the sound of her voice, the seven instruments raised up, and themselves began to play along with her. _

_ The world faded, and the Maiden along with it. But though her voice was gone, the song remained, echoing through the nothingness that now pervaded the Wanderer's mind. Though it lasted an eternity, it ended far too soon; and with a heart heavy with regret for what might have been, the Wanderer opened his eyes to behold the shore of Hyrule._

_ He had at last returned home._

When the tale finished-where had that even come from?-no one moved. Sarah and Michelle still held onto his arms, the latter with her head pressed tight against his bicep. Before him Fado kneeled in the grass, eyes wide. There was someone else behind her, a man with purple hair. It was an odd color, but it seemed somehow to fit him. It added a warm softness to his thin, pale face.

"Well, this looks like a young man in need of rescuing if I ever saw one," he said, walking forward. "Link, isn't it?" The man extended an arm.

Link gently shrugged off the children and rose to take it. "Yes, sir. But they really aren't a problem."

"Call me Kafei, please," the man said. "Are you sure this is the ideal way to spend a beautiful afternoon like this? I've been coerced into playing house a time or two myself."

There was something about the easy way the man presented himself that made Link want to like him. He was different from the other grown-ups Link had known. Kafei spoke without condescension, almost as if they were equals.

"How would you like to go for a little hike? I've never been out here before, and those woods look beautiful," Kafei said.

"Hold it, mister," cut in Fado. "You aren't taking him anywhere without me."

"Oh, is that so?" Kafei said, raising his eyebrows as he turned his head toward the girl.

"I would feel more comfortable with Fado along," Link admitted. He really should have just said no. Everything in him was screaming that this was a bad idea, that he would just be disappointed again, but he could not help hoping that this could be his big chance.

"Well, I suppose we'll have two beautiful children keeping us company today. I'll just go find my wife, and we can be off."

His wife, a rather plain red-haired woman perhaps half a head shorter than Kafei, was unwrapping food with Miss Rebecca, smiling meekly as the caretaker chattered away.

When Miss Rebecca learned that Kafei wished to take Link and Fado for a hike, she could not have been more thrilled.

"Now, you'll probably be out during lunch, so here are some sandwiches for you," she said, throwing some food into a small cloth bag for them. "You enjoy peanut butter, yes? Oh, what am I saying, of course you do. And you have enough water?"

"Several bottles full," Kafei responded, opening his brown knapsack. Miss Rebecca glanced in, then turned back to the food.

"Let's see, sandwiches, fruit… oh, have a cookie too. Mallara won't mind, I'm sure. Do remember to smile, Link. Everyone likes a happy boy."

"Yes ma'am," Link said, accepting the bag from her and slinging it over his shoulder. He turned to leave, but Miss Rebecca knelt in front of him and took him by the shoulders.

"You're okay with this, aren't you, Link?" she said in a low voice. "You'll be perfectly safe, of course. He's registered, and he even works at the castle. Perfectly upright gentleman, by all accounts. But if you're worried, even a little bit-"

"I'm fine, Miss Rebecca," he said. She tilted her head. "Really."

"Well, off you go then," she said. "I do hope this works out for you."

Their preparations complete, the small group walked off toward the trail through the forest. Rather, three of them walked; Fado skipped.

"Link, this is my wife Anju," Kafei said. "Anju, Link and…"

"Fado," she announced, jumping in front of all of them to perform an elaborate curtsey.

"A pleasure to meet you both," Anju said.

"So Link," Kafei said, as their path took them into the woods. "That was an interesting story you told back there. Where did you hear it?"

Link shrugged.

"I don't know. Miss Rebecca must've told it to us one day."

"Miss Rebecca never told that story," Fado said. "I would've remembered that. It's too sad."

"Whatever. It just came out when I started talking. It felt like the right thing to say," Link said.

"Well, whatever you did, you certainly managed to ensnare those girls back there," Kafei said. "If you aren't careful, they'll be demanding another game from you. Do you tell stories often?"

"Hey, who says you get to ask all the questions, huh?" Fado cut in. "What about you? What's your story, mister?"

"Well, you know our names. I'm an investigative accountant for the Treasury, Anju runs a hotel. What else do you want to know?"

"Why would you want to adopt anyone?" Fado asked.

"Fado, isn't that a bit rude?" Link asked.

"Oh, that's okay," Kafei said with a laugh. "We don't have any secrets; we just wanted to do something nice for someone."

"You mean you aren't-" Link blurted, then clamped his mouth shut before he said too much.

"Not as far as we know," Anju said. "I was born into a family with a very popular hotel, and I was lucky enough to meet Kafei. And of course _his_ father is the city custodian."

"We thought we should share our good fortune with someone who might not get our opportunities," Kafei finished.

The couple was remarkably easy to talk to. Anju was every bit as straightforward as her husband, if somewhat more reticent. Link soon found himself telling them all about his life in the orphanage, his job at the coffee shop, and his dreams for college. Fado, naturally, said twice as much about herself, while she wasn't helping Link tell stories about himself.

"After the third family, I guess I just sort of gave up," Link said as they paused to eat the sandwiches Miss Rebecca packed. "Decided to focus on school instead."

"Well, we're certainly glad you gave us a chance," Kafei said. "In fact, I think we could start the trial as early as Tuesday, if you want."

"Wait, what?" Link said.

"What?" Fado echoed, more shrilly.

The trial was a one-month test period where the orphan lived with his potential family before being legally adopted. Investigators would drop by on occasion to ensure everything was in order, but otherwise it was just as good as a real adoption. Very few orphans who started the trial ever returned to the orphanage; not even Mido.

"What about me?" Fado pleaded. "You can't just take him."

"I'm sorry. We can only afford one," Anju said.

Her gaze turned from Anju and Kafei to Link. He lowered his eyes and picked at the grass. From the corner of his eye, he saw the adults withdraw a respectful distance.

"Link, tell them you can't. Tell them you're happier here. You can't just leave, you can't."

Her voice trembled as she spoke, and when he looked up, there were tears welling in her eyes.

"Fado, this could be my last chance." He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she began sobbing. "No one else even wants to talk to me. I could have a family. Besides, I bet I could visit you sometimes. Maybe on one of the picnics over break."

She launched herself at him, enveloping him in a giant hug. He froze; no one had ever done that to him before.

"But we're best friends," she said.

Link wrapped his arms around her back, pulling the sobbing girl close. He didn't know what to say, so he rubbed her back like he'd seen an anxious mother do on TV once.

"I guess you can go, if you really want to," she whispered, once the crying stopped.

"We'll still be friends, you'll see," he assured her.

"That's what they all say," Fado muttered.

She was not wrong. They had both seen enough adoptions to know the truth of that.

"Well, shall we head back and start the paperwork?" Kafei suggested.

As much as it hurt to do so, Link nodded.

He was going to have a family at last.

* * *

**A note on characters:** I will keep all characters in this story relatively close to their originals. Meaning, you won't be seeing Zelda and Hilda in the same high school, there won't be an evil-vice-principal Ganondrof, etc. You did almost get a sexy-math-teacher!Nabooru though. That would've been awesome.

I have a very good reason for using Fado instead of Saria here.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Link would have thought that he was dreaming, if he ever had dreams that weren't nightmares. He had never had his own room before. At first he had just roomed with Mido, but as the orphanage filled up, others moved in. They moved out just as quickly. He wasn't even sure he could remember how many roommates he had had altogether.

He now lay on his very own bed, which he had moved to the very center of his room. He had so much space! Mr. Timmons could have fit six, maybe eight other people in a room of this size. Link could probably even move completely into his closet and still have more space than he was used to.

His clothes, folded neatly, took up but a quarter of the ornate wood dresser that sat across from his desk. Beyond that, his ancient suitcase from the orphanage had contained only a couple notebooks and a small bag of he had distributed among his desk, his nightstand, and the second-floor bathroom as appropriate.

"All settled in, Link?" Anju's voice interrupted his thoughts. She stood halfway through the door, a hand resting upon its white frame. "We ought to go over the house rules downstairs, when you have a moment. We'll have brownies, too."

"Yes, ma'am!" Link replied, bouncing to his feet.

"Just 'Anju', please," she said. This was not the first time he had heard this phrase from her, and he had no doubt it would be some time before it was trained out of him. Mr. Timmons had been quite particular about manners.

Anju led him down a carpeted staircase and into the sitting room. Kafei rose from his leather armchair as they entered, setting down his book on an end table.

"Everything okay so far, Link?" he asked.

"Oh, yes s-" He cut himself off. Anju and Kafei exchanged an amused smile.

"It's great," he tried again.

"Excellent." Kafei took a seat and motioned for Link to do the same. He sank into a similar armchair across from Kafei, resting his hands upon the arms as if he were a king on a throne. Anju took a seat on the edge of the sofa, hands folded primly in her lap, posture erect.

"Now, I know no one likes to talk about rules, but we may as well get it over with, right?"

Link nodded. He was all too familiar with rules.

"Rule number one, then," Kafei said. "School comes first. Always. Our district's high school has a bit of a reputation for its difficulty, so you'll really have to focus."

"Hyrule High?" Link blurted. He had known, of course, that he had moved to an upper class neighborhood. Only a fool could have missed the increasingly ornate and individual houses that dotted the streets as Kafei drove him ever closer to his destination. His own house-well, Kafei's-was a three-layer construction of solid stone, complete with crenellated balconies outside the upper windows. But he had not quite made the connection to the school.

Hyrule High. The best of the best. It was said that Princess Zelda herself studied there. It would be full of kids who had been raised on tutors, who read novels like Twilit Meditations for fun.

Link suddenly felt very small. There was no way he could keep up; the only reason for his good grades at his old school was that he worked so much harder than everyone else. He could barely even remember what an absolute value was, let alone the intricacies of the royal line. How could he compete in a school where everyone already worked hard?

"Is there a problem?" Kafei asked. Some of his apprehension must have shown on his face.

Link couldn't meet his eyes. They had wanted someone smart. They had wanted someone to send to high school and show off. They would send him back.

"I'm not good at school," he mumbled at his feet. He clenched his hands on the armrests, waiting for the reprimand, the disappointment.

"No one's good at everything," Kafei said. "That doesn't mean it's not worth trying."

"But it's Hyrule High. I can't-"

"Have you been there before, to speak so certainlly?" For the first time, there was an edge to the man's tone, a passion that caused Link to shut his mouth before he could even think about it. "Failed a test, perhaps? Or maybe a teacher there told you never to attend."

Link didn't know what to say to that, so he said nothing.

"What Kafei's trying to say is that it's alright if you truly can't do this. If it doesn't work out, we'll find a different school for you. We just want you to try your best," Anju said. Link could have hugged her.

"That won't be a problem," Link said. "I always try my best."

"I knew I could count on you," Kafei said. "Now realize, Link: this rule goes both ways. If there's anything we can do to make your studying better, let us know. Anything. Anju's quite brilliant, and you can always feel free to ask her for help with something you don't understand.

"What we can give you right now is time. We have more money than we'll ever need, so there's no reason for you to waste your study time trying to earn more of it."

"But college-" Link protested. Kafei waved the concern off.

"We'll worry about that when it gets here. Let's focus on getting you into a good one for now, okay? If you really want to work, we can talk about it again once we find out how school's going for you."

A repeated beeping sound from another room interrupted them.

"Oh, the brownies!" Anju said. With a final smile at Link, she stood and rushed to the kitchen. Kafei watched her go, then leaned in closer to Link.

"Our unofficial rule is to try not to let Anju cook anything," he whispered. "Especially not for company."

She returned moments later, bearing a plate stacked high with walnut-topped brownie squares. Link and Kafei both took one, wrapping them in provided napkins. He tried not to look at it too carefully. They certainly smelled delicious, but Kafei's warning left him unsure.

He took a tentative bite. The crust had burnt brittle, but that did not stop the surge of chocolate from flooding his mouth as his teeth bit into the hard center. He had certainly had better brownies before, but none ever so vibrant with the fresh heat of the oven.

"This is wonderful," Link said when he swallowed.

"Don't encourage her," moaned Kafei. Anju slapped him playfully on the shoulder.

The only thing surprising about the remaining rules was how much freedom he had. He would have chores, of course: lawn care, cleaning, and the like. Nothing he wasn't already used to. He was to keep his room clean, be civil, and always be home by 9:30.

"If there is something keeping you out late, call," Kafei said at the end. "Do you have a cell phone?"

Link shook his head.

"One more thing for the list, then," Anju said.

Their shopping list had grown quite large by the time Anju took him out that afternoon. Despite his constant protests that he was fine with what he had, they each needed to make two trips from the car to carry his new possessions up to his room. He spent the rest of the afternoon before dinner hanging his new clothes in his closet, finding the best place to store the armload of notebooks, and setting up his new electronics.

Besides the cell phone, Anju had also bought him a laptop to do his schoolwork on. He had at first tried to get one of the cheaper ones in the store, but she had smiled and suggested a different one that cost well over two hundred rupees. Link did not know why he needed a computer that expensive, but neither did he want to offend her.

The next day, Anju and Kafei returned to their jobs. For the entire week before start of term, Link found himself in a rather enormous house with very little to do. He spent much of his time on his new computer, now connected to the Internet. He had never had more than fifteen or twenty minutes online at a time before, and he soon lost himself in the myriad of websites now available to him. Here, he could easily find information on the latest clothes, or strange new recipe. He could even do more research on dreams. There were also the weird sites, of course, including one devoted exclusively to artwork of historical Princess Zeldas.

He also taught himself to cook. When Anju and Kafei first came home to a fresh pot of stew, brewed from the scraps Link managed to scrounge from the refrigerator, they were quite pleased indeed.

Kafei seemed a good deal happier about this development than his wife.

Even so, the days grew tiresome. Back at the orphanage, even on the weekends, there had always been something to take care of. Someone skinned his knee, or two boys would get in a fight over a lollipop, and more often than not Link was left to clean up. In his new home, he could only spend so long at the computer before he grew restless, and there was not much left in the house to clean.

He found himself missing his four roommates. They were obnoxious, true, but anything would be better than the endless silence. Even when he had his laptop's speakers turned up, blaring music as loud as they could, he couldn't seem to break the sense of stillness that pervaded the house. Without the constant yelling, or clatter of children making noise, it seemed somewhat dead.

And then there were the dreams. Lying in his large bed, nothing but empty space all around him, he felt the darkness pressing in, as though it were trying to smother him. He buried his head under his pillow, and that helped somewhat, but he could not shake the feeling of those burning eyes watching him as he fell asleep. He even thought he could hear whispers, sometimes, when it was quiet enough.

And so when Kafei called him one afternoon to tell him that they were being taken out for dinner that evening, Link could not have been more relieved. Anything to escape the monotony of his new house.

By the time his new parents returned home, he was waiting in the lounge, changed into a freshly-ironed set of the dress clothes Anju had bought him.

"What's the occasion?" Link asked as they got into Kafei's car.

"One of your future classmates want to meet you before term starts," Kafei said.

"Why?" Link asked. Naturally, Kafei would have told his coworkers about the adoption, but it seemed odd that someone would go so far just to meet him. He was just another boy. School would start in just a few days anyway.

"I've stopped asking her that question," Kafei said with a chuckle.

"Who?"

"I'll let her introduce herself."

Link sat back in his seat, trying not to think too hard about it. He considered himself a patient person-he had spent some fourteen years waiting to be adopted, after all-but he was about to meet a new friend. Not only that, but she would be around his age, too! It would be very good to know someone before he started school. Maybe they could even study together.

His stomach fluttered in anticipation, but he shoved the excitement aside and forced himself to listen to his parents' conversation as they continued their trip.

"It's just really hard sometimes," Anju was saying. "Everyone just looks the same to me."

"I'm sure there's a way to train that," Kafei said. "You can tell some people apart, right? How do you do that? I mean, you never have any problem recognizing me."

"You have purple hair, darling."

At last they arrived at the restaurant. Steeling himself with a deep breath, Link emerged from the car. The sun was already making its way below the horizon, leaving the air slightly warm and dry.

"Ah, looks like they're already here," Kafei said. Link turned to see where he was looking. A girl trotted toward them, a stream of blonde hair trailing behind her. A rather imposing woman followed. She held herself firm as steel, and though she walked with a steady dignity, she still somehow managed to match the girl's hurried pace.

A Gerudo, he knew at once. He had never met one before, but it was evident from her tan skin and burning red hair. He wondered how many of the stories he had heard were true. Clearly not all; common wisdom was that Gerudo, even those who had settled in the city, traveled in packs. This one stood alone.

"It's Link, right?" the girl said as she approached. "It's so good to finally meet you. I'm Zelda."

Link took her extended hand. There was something familiar about her eager smile, her blue eyes. He had seen her in the coffee shop, he suddenly remembered. She had been staring at him.

Then he realized what she had just said. Her name was Zelda. The Princess's name was Zelda. Princess Zelda was rumored to attend Hyrule High. He was shaking hands with a princess.

The resemblance to the pictures in his history books was so obvious, now that he saw it. It must have been her smile that threw him off. The royal family was nearly always depicted was unyielding faces of stone, fixed with a timeless wisdom. Or perhaps it was just that he did not expect to see a princess of Hyrule wearing a skirt and a white blouse.

He was suddenly very aware of himself, of the thin, warm hand clasped in his, fingers brushing against his wrist. A million thoughts assaulted him at once. No one had told him how to talk to a princess before. Was he supposed to be kneeling? He'd read of people kissing great ladies' hands before; surely she could not be expecting that!

"Your highness," he forced himself to say. He cringed at the words as they came out in a faint squeak. Lowering his head, he began to drop to a knee, when the hand that he forgot he was still holding yanked him up.

"Not here," the Princess of Hyrule said, laughing. "That stuff's just for when I'm in my princess outfit."

Blood ran to his face. It seemed like everyone in the entire parking lot was staring at him. He tried to stammer out an apology, but Zelda just giggled, took his arm, and led him toward the restaurant.

"Come on, I'm hungry; let's eat," she said. "You do like noodles, don't you? The lasagna here is astounding."

When they entered, a waiter was standing ready to escort them to a central table, ornamented by a vase with a single white rose in it.

"And you're Anju, right?" Zelda said once they were all seated. "Kafei talks about you all the time."

Link whipped his gaze past his blushing mother to stare at Kafei. He thought he was an investigative accountant. How in the world-

"This is Nabooru," Zelda said, seeming not to notice Link's surprise. "Father is rather busy, so she takes care of me. She's basically an adoptive mother."

Her mouth snapped shut as the last word left it. She stared down at the menu, her cheeks flushed. Beside her, Nabooru scowled and muttered to herself.

"I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"It's fine," Link said, raising a hand to cut her off. "My parents are dead. Have been as long as I remember. I just don't get upset about it any more. Besides, Anju and Kafei are good people. Thinking about adoption makes me happy now."

Zelda smiled. "You are courteous to say so. But really, I do usually think things through better."

"Have you heard about the time she darted out into the middle of traffic?" Nabooru cut in.

"Nabooru!"

Link attempted to hide his grin with a sip of water, but he had no doubt he was failing miserably.

"It made sense at the time," Zelda protested, crossing her arms.

"I am sure that it did," Nabooru said. Beside her, Kafei raised his eyebrows.

The princess was remarkably easy to talk to. She always seemed to know just what to say to prompt an easy answer from him, and he soon found himself telling her all about life in the orphanage, and the games he'd play with Fado. He even forgot he was talking to a princess, at one point.

Link ended up ordering the lasagna that Zelda recommended, as did the princess herself. Nabooru had just a small bowl of pasta, garnished with neither sauce, nor cheese, nor anything else that he could see. An odd choice, but he decided not to ask about it. She wore a scowl, even as she ate, and Link winced at the thought of upsetting her.

"So, what does a princess's normal day look like?" Link asked when there was a lull in the conversation.

"Nabooru makes sure I stay busy," she said. "When I'm not in school, we just learn more about what's going on in the government. She's been teaching me to fight, too, in case something happens."

"Do you happen to have anything to do with the Gerudo delegate?" Kafei asked.

Zelda shook her head.

"I met her when she arrived, but Father thinks I'm still too young to really do anything yet. I think she just wants us to let more Gerudo immigrate each year."

"It must be nice to see another of your people in the castle," Link said to Nabooru.

"My people?" Her hand lowered her glass to the table as she stared at Link. He gulped despite himself. What had he said wrong? He was just trying to be polite.

"Nabooru," Zelda cautioned, resting a hand on her arm.

"I have been Hyrulean since I was five." This she said slowly, as if each word were a struggle to get out.

"The city Gerudo seldom get along with those of the desert," Zelda explained. "You've never met a Gerudo before, have you?"

Link shook his head.

"It's okay. There's plenty in our class. You'll learn soon enough."

"So, if the desert Gerudo don't like the immigrants, why do they want to come?" Link asked.

Nabooru rose abruptly. "Excuse me. I must relieve myself," she said.

"I'm sorry!" Link called as she strode off. "I didn't mean-"

Zelda reached across the table and placed a hand on his arm.

"It's not your fault. It was an honest question. Here, give me your e-mail. We'll get you up to speed before class starts."

When Nabooru returned two minutes later, she was just as talkative as she was before she left, which is to say, hardly at all. Link tried to ask about the high school, but the conversation had died, and nothing Link or Zelda did revived it.

"See you in class, then," Zelda said at the end of the meal.

"I look forward to it," Link said, glad that he could say so truthfully. It would be very good to have a friendly face among the sea of people so much smarter than he was.

That night, for the first time in months, he slept without dreams.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

On the morning of his first day of school, Link sat in the kitchen and nibbled at some toast as he eyed the coffee maker in the corner. Seven o'clock was far too early for any sane person to be up, and for a moment he longed to sample the strange black liquid that so many people swore by.

He wouldn't, though. Hiis whole life, he had gotten by just fine without it, and he saw no reason why that should change. He would just grin and bear it, as they said. Or perhaps 'grimace,' in his case. He was never really one for smiling.

As he finished up the rest of his toast, he turned his gaze back to the window and waited. His backpack sat in the corner, its contents checked once the night before, and again this morning. His shoes were tied, his hair was brushed, and he was ready to learn. Well, at least as ready as he ever got, anyway. All that was missing was his ride.

Kafei had left for work some thirty minutes ago, and he did not even want to think about how early Anju had left. They'd arranged for another student who lived nearby to come and pick him up on her way to school. He made sure he had a clear view of the entire street so he would not miss her.

As it turned out, he heard rather than saw her approach. He had taken a moment to turn to the sink and wash his plate when the the squeal of tires announced her arrival. He finished wiping the plate clean, and then, slinging his backpack over his shoulder, he walked outside to greet his ride.

The passenger door of the sleek black sports car opened as he approached. The driver was a rather surly-looking upperclassman. Upperclasswoman, rather. He couldn't make out much of her features due to her large sunglasses. Her short, blue hair stood out though, as did her faint odor of bubblegum.

"Morning, sunshine," the driver drawled. "Irene's Taxi here. That'll be five rupees."

He stared at her. Kafei said nothing about a fee. And he had no pocket money. He hadn't seen the need to bring any to school. Was she seriously expecting payment for this? It was supposed to have been a favor.

"Just get in," Irene said with a sigh. "Are you always this boring, or are you just speechless from my stunning looks?"

Link chose to focus on entering the vehicle and closing the door rather than giving her an answer.

"Guess it's the boring one, then. Way to make a girl feel special, kid. Looks like you're not getting the flattery discount today."

"By the Goddesses, kid," she continued as soon as he started to respond. "If you even think about looking at me like a wounded chipmunk, I swear you're gonna hear about it every day until the Life Festival. Chill. I wouldn't charge for a ride."

Link found it remarkably hard to 'chill' in the face of Irene's rather abrasive greeting, but he sat back in the leather seat anyway.

"You coordinate your hair with Kafei?" he tried.

She lolled her head over to stare at him as the car started accelerating down the street.

"Don't go into stand-up, kid."

Link did not feel the urge to speak for the rest of the drive. Irene, for her part, seemed content to listen to the obnoxious faux-metal hit song blasting from the radio.

"Try not to screw up your first day, kid," she said by way of farewell when they arrived at the school's parking lot.

"Nice to meet you too," Link beamed. Irene's glasses shaded her eyes, but she more than made up for it, rolling her entire head in exasperation as she left the car.

This was not the first he had seen of the school. He had gone, briefly, for orientation on the day after his dinner with Zelda. Even so, the splendor of it was still a little bit shocking. Out in front of the building, there was a large fountain, centered around a life-sized statue of the Goddess Hylia. The perfectly trimmed lawn about the building sported the most vibrant shade of green he'd ever seen.

Even the students themselves seemed more polished. Link saw none of the baggy pants or stained T-shirts so common at his previous school. Few people, if any, slouched, and there seemed to be an air of purposefulness pervading the environment.

He saw his first group of Gerudo on his way to drop off his spare notebooks in his locker. A handful clustered together nearby, laughing at something he couldn't make out. True to the stereotype, there was not a Hylian among them.

Zelda had cautioned him that the Gerudo would not be good prospects for his first friends. He wondered why. To him, they seemed no more closed off than any of the others in the school. Here, a cluster of athletic boys in polo shirts turned a corner. There, girls gossipped with each other as they lounged by the stairwell. Somewhere, he was sure, Irene would be enjoying her own clique of sassy car enthusiasts. Or whatever she was into. He doubted any of these groups would be particularly accepting of him.

Link shrugged and continued to his locker. Zelda must know what she was talking about.

He arrived to his first class, Chemistry, five minutes before the start. He searched for Zelda among the entering students, but apparently she did not have that class. Fortunately, the first day was quite light; after an hour of administrivia he emerged with only five pages of reading for homework.

It was his next class, Algebra, that worried him the most. In the excitement of the past week, he had completely forgotten about reviewing for it. Math was the one subject where falling behind was disastrous, so hopefully they would not move too fast.

The teacher was a slender gentleman. He stood before the class, hands clasped behind his back, only the hint of a smile on his face.

"Good morning, class. My name is Mr. Owlan. Welcome to Algebra. I will not waste your time with a definition of the word. We will just say we are continuing your math education, yes?" His soft, baritone voice carried surprisingly well in the large classroom.

"I will be trying something new this semester. Find a partner. Choose wisely, for you will be together for the rest of the semester. I cannot make you study together, but you will sit with each other, and group work will make up a significant part of your grade. You have two minutes."

Fantastic. Now he would be an embarrassment not just to his class, but to his designated partner. There was nothing in the whole world, he decided, that could not be made worse by the addition of group work.

Around him, people were already busy pairing up. Most chattered happily with their new partners as they edged their chairs closer together. The one exception was the Gerudo who slumped in her chair next to him. She seemed to be the only one in the entire class.

"Um… partners?" he asked her.

"Why the hell not?" she muttered without moving.

"I'm Link," he offered, trying to put some happiness in his tone, though it had all long since drained out of him.

"Aghreal," she replied. "New kid, right?"

Link nodded.

"You any good at math?" she asked.

"Nope."

"Of course not," she sighed.

By then, Owlan was clapping his hands for everyone's attention. The conversations died down as all turned their attention back to the teacher.

They began with a lightning drill of arithmetic. When Mr. Owlan pressed a button, twenty problems were projected upon the wall. Above the questions, a timer began counting down from two minutes. Link did well at first, and for a brief moment he was proud of his work over the summer. But as soon as the negative numbers, the rules of arithmetic fled from his mind. He found himself lost in a sea of minuses and plusses, and he had no idea where to put them.

Beside him, Aghreal moved her pen calmly across the paper, her face showing nothing. Link was not even halfway done when she dropped her pen and fell back in her chair.

All told, he managed to complete twelve problems. As the answers revealed themselves on the screen, he saw to some relief that he had managed to get most of them right. Must have been luck, he figured.

Then they moved on to question-and-answer.

"Who can tell me which operations are associative?" Mr. Owlan asked the class. "How about you? Link, is it?"

He could feel everyone looking at him. Here was the moment where he made his impression. Here was where he became either bright, or stupid.

"All of them," he said with as much confidence as he could muster. Link saw from the twitch in the man's face that he had gotten it wrong. A couple snickers broke out throughout the room, but Mr. Owlan spoke again before they grew too loud.

"Perhaps your partner can redeem you. Aghreal?"

"Addition and multiplication," she intoned.

She wasn't even trying, he realized, as Mr. Owlan praised her and moved on to his next victim. He must've somehow gotten paired with the smartest kid in the room. He supposed he ought to be grateful; he couldn't possibly hurt her grade too much, and maybe she could even teach him some tricks to get by. But he couldn't help feeling that the girl was constantly judging him. Naturally, he was failing to live up to her expectations.

At the end of class, Aghreal was on her feet and moving toward the door before the bell had even finished ringing. Link hurriedly threw his books into his bag. He had to catch her before she left the room. They were partners after all; they should at least exchange phone numbers.

A hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Trust me, you want as little to do with that as possible, mate," a voice said. "Whores, all of them."

Link turned to see a round-faced boy grinning down at him. He heard no venom in his voice. He had said it casually, as though merely passing on common knowledge.

"You're the new kid, right?" the boy said. "The one Mr. Dotour adopted? My name's Mike," he said, extending a hand.

He certainly seemed friendly enough. No one else had tried to talk to him that day. Like as not, he was just trying to help. Link certainly didn't feel any pressure. Mike stood back an appropriate distance, arm outstretched, looking the very image of a curious young sophomore.

And yet…

Whores, all of them.

This was not a person whose friendship he desired. Let him spread rumors. Let him snigger. Saying nothing, Link shouldered his backpack and made his way to his next class.

Old Hylian was not nearly as bad as Algebra had been. Here was a subject where everyone was a novice, and he was glad to start out on an equal footing. But then in Literature, everyone else had had summer reading, and he found himself staring out the window as the class discussed some ancient text he'd never even heard of before.

Then, at last, it was time for lunch. He felt more than the weight of his bag leaving him as he dropped it off at his locker. An entire forty-five minutes to not think about anything. It would be wonderful.

He sat by himself with his meal of roast beef and steamed carrots, but he didn't mind. He found himself ever less fond of his classmates as the day progressed. They'd all be whispering about him by now, he knew. He'd spent the entire morning stumbling and sputtering through material that he didn't understand. And so far the nicest person he'd met had been Irene.

His spirits lifted when Zelda sat down across from him.

"So how's the first day?" she asked.

"It's school," Link said, determined that the princess would not hear him complain.

"Is Mr. Owlan doing that partner thing to you too? I mean, I'm really excited to get to work with my best friend, but I just feel there'll be a bit more work this way, you know?"

Link told her about Aghreal. "Bit of a bad attitude, but she's really smart," he concluded. "I don't know why people say bad things about her."

"Bad things?" Zelda prompted.

"Well, after class, Mike called her…" He glanced down at his food. That was not proper language to use in front of a princess, but there was no other word for it.

"Let me guess, a whore?" Zelda finished for him.

Link nodded.

"Sometime I just want to lock up everyone here in a room with Nabooru for a few days," she said, sighing.

"Would that help?"

"It would be fun."

Their mood thus darkened, they continued their meal in silence. But Link was not satisfied. After a few moments, he blurted: "But why? I don't get it. What problem do people have with the Gerudo? The last war was forever ago."

Zelda chewed on her lip for a moment, placing her fork carefully on her tray.

"The Gerudo have not been too eager to fit in," she said at last. "An all female race, remember, and they don't marry."

As Link opened his mouth to ask the obvious question, Zelda raised her hand to stop him and continued.

"Think about it. For centuries, the only man among them has been their king. With the exception of the odd honorary member or two, of course. But after what happened with their last king, the devastation that followed, their near extinction… Can you imagine what the thought of bringing a man into their household must seem like?"

"So, what, they just 'hook up' with a Hylian, and then… raise the child among themselves?" Link said, struggling to complete the thought.

Zelda nodded. "Which in a Hylian culture…" she prompted.

"... would make them whores."

"I wouldn't let Nabooru hear you phrase it like that, if I were you," Zelda teased.

Link forced a smile.

"Well, obviously, I wasn't trying to say-"

"I get it, Link, I do," Zelda interrupted with a giggle.

As it turned out, they had the next two classes together. She accompanied him to his locker en route to Mythology, where they sat through a tiresome discussion on the subtle nuances dividing myth from history.

Finally they came to gym class. He was never as excited about gym as the actual jocks always were, but he had to admit its appeal. You got points just for trying, and there were no wrong answers. Never mind that there weren't any actual questions in the first place. It was just a solid hour of brute-forcing everything.

He could do brute force.

They started off the class with a one-mile run. Though a couple boys started off at a sprint, Link soon took the lead, savoring the rush of air across his face. The stress of the day peeled off as he sped around the small track, leaving all his problems behind him along with all the unsavory people.

It ended much too quickly. After four laps, he reluctantly stopped at the side of the track as he waited for the others to finish.

"Good job, Link," the teacher said. "Have you considered trying out for track?"

"I need the time for studying," Link said.

"Ah. Pity."

Soon a crowd formed at the track's side as more and more students completed the mile. He thought he heard someone mutter "So he is good at something," but he tried to ignore it. Besides, he didn't even know they were talking about him. It could easily have been someone else.

Then Zelda staggered to halt in front of him, face covered in a sheen of sweat.

"Wow, I couldn't believe how fast you ran that," she said in between large, gasping breaths.

"Yeah, that was super awesome! How come I haven't seen you before?" said a girl to her side. If he hadn't known that Zelda was an only child, he would have thought them sisters. She wore the same bubbly smile and was only maybe an inch shorter. She had a braid of brown hair instead of Zelda's blond, though.

"That's because he hasn't been here before, Desi," Zelda explained. "Remember the kid Mr. Dotour adopted that I told you about?"

The other girl glanced upward for a few seconds before finally her face brightened and her excited smile returned once more.

"Oh yeah, I remember! Lee, right?"

"Link," he corrected.

"Desiree," she replied, pumping his hand up and down. "But you can call me Desi. Everyone else does. 'Desiree' just has too many syllables, you know?"

"Hey, maybe we could go running together sometime," Zelda said. "Nabooru always says I need to be faster. I bet a running partner would make training more enjoyable." As she talked, Desi stood slightly behind her, screwing up her face and making gagging sounds.

"Oh stop that. Running's good for you," Zelda said, turning to the girl.

"Yeah, well so's asparagus and chores," Desi said, and stuck out her tongue.

In a rare burst of courage, Link replied: "I'll run with you, if you help me study."

"Deal," she said, and they shook on it. "Start Friday? Nabooru can drive us to the castle after school. I know this awesome trail right nearby."

"Friday," Link agreed. It was the perfect end to a miserable day. He was relieved to know that as bad as things got, he would always have Zelda's company to cheer him up. Zelda's, and perhaps her friend's too. He may just survive Hyrule High yet.

* * *

**A/N: **Confession time: Irene is the entire reason this story exists. I saw her in ALBW and thought "Hey, it would be cool if there was a modern fic where she was Link's ride to school." And here we are.

I wanted to include more canon characters in this chapter, but Desiree got set up three chapters ago, and I couldn't think of anyone mean enough for Mike's role. I know Groose is a jerk and all, but I couldn't fit him in what I needed for this.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Friday could not come fast enough. Despite the light first day, Link soon found himself almost buried in homework. He often found himself working all the way up to the time he had to go to bed. Anju was able to provide some help, but she went to bed even earlier than he, and he was hesitant to disturb her any more than he had to. The smile she wore when she came home from work each day seemed strained somehow, as if force upon a tired face that was not meant to bear it.

The load was not yet so great that he had to stop making dinner though, and hopefully it never would be. While he had no doubt that Kafei would surely be okay with him taking the extra time for homework if that was what it took, he felt some obligation to make his new parents' lives more pleasant where he could. He had also come to enjoy cooking. There was something mindless about the task that allowed him to relax, and there were few feelings as satisfying as seeing a useful creation come together in a matter of minutes.

On Thursday evening, he had made quite a large pot of lentil soup. There was enough left over for dinner on Friday, and perhaps even a healthy snack over the weekend. He therefore sat next to Desi in the back of Nabooru's car guilt-free as the Gerudo drove them all to the park after school. His backpack with the weekend's homework was locked safely in the trunk, and with luck it would be hours before he next had to think about it. An afternoon of freedom, running, and adventure awaited him. And of course, spending time with Zelda was always pleasant.

"Are you sure you're okay with letting us run on our own?" Zelda said to Nabooru as she brought the car to a stop in front of a trail. "If you're going to have an aneurysm or something, we really wouldn't mind having you come along."

"Yes, princess, you are very cute," Nabooru grumbled. Then she turned in her seat to look back at Link. "If she tries to do something stupid, you have my permission to stop her, and to mock her relentlessly."

Following Zelda's example, Link left his phone and house key in the door's cupholder, then exited the vehicle.

"Five o'clock," Nabooru called out the window. "You have a watch, so no excuses for being late."

Once she had gone, they began stretching.

"I can't believe you guys are running for fun," Desi complained. "Just after gym class? Really?"

"It was only tennis," Zelda said, stretching down to her toes. "That hardly counts."

"I just don't think it should be legal to have to sweat more than twice a day."

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," Zelda said.

"Oh, no way. You aren't losing me that easy. Come on, let's run," she said, and set off down the trail.

Zelda glanced at Link, shrugged, and trotted after. Link followed, and soon the two had caught up to Desi. They followed the trail up a hill, dotted with all the other people enjoying the weather. As the hill leveled out, the trail ran into a forest, where the leaves had just begun to turn to gold. Soon they became immersed in the forest's embrace, the trees above filtering the harsh sunlight. If they shared this forest with anyone else, that was not known to Link. To him, there was only the trail, the trees, and the two girls running beside him.

The pace was slower than he would have preferred. Each time he let his legs truly go free, he had to reign them in and wait for Desi. Even so, he was running! He was no longer confined to a small, circular track, and his only restriction was that of time.

"How are you so dang happy about this?" Desi asked him. Link just laughed and kept on smiling.

They stopped for a rest around half an hour in. Desi collapsed down against a tree, but Zelda remained standing and stretched some more. Link joined her. His calves felt rather tight from their slow pace. Once Desi was ready, they set off again.

Their next stop came far too soon. Shortly after they began, Zelda paused in front of a fork in the trail.

"Do you remember which way we came from?" she asked.

Link ignored Desi's grumblings and slowly turned his gaze about himself. In truth, lost in the run, he had forgotten to pay attention to any landmarks. Even when he stood at each branch in the trail and looked back toward the way they had just come, he saw nothing familiar.

"Honestly, no. But if I had to guess, I'd say we take the right fork here."

"Works for me," Zelda said. "If things start to look unfamiliar, we can always double back."

"It's a forest. Everything looks the same," Desi said, but she started running just the same.

The right fork did not look familiar, it turned out, and neither did the left one. Five o'clock came and went. Eventually, Link had to conclude that they were completely lost. Desi's gripes were near-constant now, and even Link was getting discouraged. It was hard to tell his legs to run when he knew that they might be carrying him in the wrong direction.

Zelda alone seemed unperturbed.

"We're getting nowhere," she said, stopping. "Let's stop and think about this for a bit. Running around is only going to make us more tired."

Link wiped some sweat from his forehead and rested against a tree. He was getting quite thirsty. They should at least brought some water with them. He did not enjoy the thought of holding a bottle of water as he ran, but it would certainly be better than getting dehydrated.

"Do you have any ideas, Link?" Zelda asked.

Link shook his head. He had had an idea, in truth, but he was not quite ready to admit that the idea had been _'let's take every path in the forest until we find the one that leads out.'_ It might work as a worst-case scenario - the forest couldn't possibly be that large - but he did not think that was the sort of idea Zelda was looking for.

"Nothing at all? Please, anything you can think of might help. You have to have some idea. Is there some landmark you remember that we could navigate from? Any familiar sounds?"

He tried to think, for her sake, but Desi was right. Everything in the forest looked the same. He couldn't understand why she expected him to find their way out. And she kept looking at him, like he was just supposed to magically know what to do. Desi could think just as well as he could, he was sure. Why not ask her?

Link shook the useless thoughts from his head and glanced once more about himself. The trees stood just as tall and wild as they did everywhere else. When he looked hard enough, he started to see that the leaves might be a bit lighter here, but that hardly meant anything.

"Ooh, we could make one of those divine rods," Desi said. "You know, those sticks that look like a 'Y' and find stuff."

Link then understood why the other girl had not been asked for ideas.

"I think I have a better plan," Zelda said. "Here, give me a boost up to that branch."

Obliging, Link made a step for her with his hands. He had done the same for Fado many times, but Zelda proved to be a good deal heavier, and he ended up having to support her with his knee as she reached up for the branch above.

He tried not to grunt as she lifted herself. For a moment, her shoes dug into his skin, and then her dangling feet were swinging toward his face. He back-pedalled swiftly. He did manage to avoid her feet, but then he tripped on a root and fell down on his back.

By the time he regained his feet, Zelda was already several feet above the first branch and moving steadily higher. He resisted the urge to call out 'Be careful.' That would only distract her.

Then she disappeared among the upper branches. For a few breathless moments, the forest was completely still. Even Desi had ceased her fidgeting to look up at the canopy. Link thought he could see some leaves rustling where Zelda had disappeared, but it was too high to be sure.

"I think I can see the parking lot from here," Zelda called.

"Which way is it?" Desi asked.

"Hang on. I'm coming down."

The princess emerged from the treetop, scampering down from limb to limb as easily as he descended the stairs from his room each morning.

"Catch me," she laughed as she reached the bottom branch.

"What?" Link asked. Even as he spoke, he stepped forward without thinking, readying himself to intercept her fall. Before he could pause to wonder how he would actually do that, she dropped down. Two sneakers collided with his chin, then one hundred some pounds of princess plopped on top of him, driving him to the ground.

Zelda started laughing so hard she bent over double, strands of sweaty blonde hair sticking to Link's face.

"That was a _joke_," she said, once the laughter subsided. "You weren't actually supposed to catch me.

"It wasn't very funny," Link muttered. That had hurt. He was lucky he hadn't lost a tooth or broken something. His wrist, in particular, had gotten trapped between their bodies on impact and was now sending alarming messages up to his brain.

"Are you two planning on getting up anytime soon?" Desi asked.

Zelda rolled over - digging her knee deeper into his thigh as she shifted her weight - and pushed herself to her feet. Link lay there for a moment massaging his wrist, but Zelda put a stop to that when she grabbed his hand and yanked him up to his feet.

"Oh, stop being dramatic. I didn't fall _that_ far. Come on! The parking lot's over there," she said, making her way off the path, toward a thick patch of brush.

"Zelda, the trail doesn't even go that way."

"It will," she said, pushing deeper into the vegetation. "We just have to find it first."

Link sighed and followed, Desi trailing behind him.

"You know, when Nabooru said that thing about you doing something stupid-"

"Trust me, you haven't even come close to seeing stupid yet," Zelda said without turning.

"She's right, you know," Desi said, coming abreast of him. "Not even close."

"That is not an encouraging thought."

As carefully as he tried to pick through the sharp branches and brambles that now surrounded him, he could not keep from getting scratched. They raked at his skin, slowly at first, but as Zelda got farther and farther ahead, he increased his pace and the scratches grew more frequent.

"Do you know what poison ivy looks like?" he called to her. "Because I don't, and I'd rather not have it ruin my weekend."

"Just don't step on anything too plant-y," she replied.

"That doesn't-"

"Just keep on walking, dude," Desi advised. "We can kill her on the ride home."

Just as Zelda had said, they soon emerged from the forest. The parking lot was just at the foot of the hill they stood on. Link was covered in scratches, a couple of which even oozed blood. Sweat glued his shirt to his chest, a blister was forming on his foot, and his stomach growled in annoyance. Despite all this, the sight of Nabooru storming up the hill almost sent him running back into the forest.

"What time is it?" she said. Her voice was no louder than conversation level, but she spoke with an intensity that demanded attention.

"Look, I know we're a bit late, but-" Zelda began.

"What time is it?"

"Five forty-five."

Nabooru nodded, saying nothing, looking at each in turn. Link wished she'd just shout. Her silence was suffocating.

"I was moments from calling the Hylian Guard to comb the forest for you."

"We got lost," Zelda said. The bold, adventurous girl who had led them straight through a thicket of brambles was replaced by someone much meeker, looking at her feet as she mumbled excuses.

"You got lost," Nabooru repeated, raising her eyebrows.

"I thought we'd be able to find our way faster, but…"

For a brief second, Zelda's gaze darted back toward Link. Unwilling, he took a step back. Was she about to blame him for this? But before she could say anything else, Nabooru spoke again.

"We can discuss this later. Come, let us return to the castle. Your friends will be hungry, I think," she said. The anger had passed like a spring shower, leaving only the trace of harshness that seemed ever-present in the Gerudo's voice.

Link and Desi exchanged a confused glance, then followed Nabooru and Zelda to the waiting car. They all squished together in the back, and Zelda handed out the bottles of water that had been placed there sometime during their run. The ride home passed in tense silence, but as soon as they entered the castle and Nabooru left them ("to preserve my sanity," she grumbled), Zelda and Desi began chattering again.

It was a struggle to pay attention to them, distracted as he was by the castle's interior. He had been to Hyrule Castle more than once on a field trip, but the tours had shown little more than the throne room, the council chambers, and other such important locations. But (after a painless frisking by security) Zelda brought him straight to the heart of the building, where the Royal Family lived.

Though the exterior and the state rooms had maintained much of their traditional stylings - great crenelated walls of stone, guards with spears and metal armor outside the gates, hallways lit only by torches and sunlight - the room they now stood in was fully modern. An array of lights flickered on as they entered, and there was an intercom system build into the wall which Zelda used to request a plate of sandwiches.

Minutes later, a maid clad in a simple faded-red skirt and blouse wheeled in a cart laden with perhaps half a dozen sandwiches. At a glance, Link could see tuna salad, ham, and even peanut butter.

Zelda thanked the maid with a warm smile, and then she and Desi grabbed sandwiches and began eating. Link was more hesitant. He slowly picked up one containing chicken breast and crisp lettuce between two thick slabs of homemade white bread and turned it in his hands.

"If there's nothing here to your liking, I'm sure we could find something else," the maid said.

Link almost jumped.

"No, no, it's not that at all. I'm sure it's delicious. It's just…" He paused. He wasn't quite sure how to explain himself.

"You're uncomfortable being served like this, aren't you?" Zelda said.

Link nodded, relieved that she understood.

"It just feels wrong. I mean, I didn't do anything to deserve something like this."

"Susan, why don't you tell Link what you were doing before I called?"

"Counting the tiles in the children's dining room," the maid said, pulling her lips together in a tight smile. "That was after I polished everything in the first-floor study for the third time today."

"And - if you don't mind, of course - what were you doing before coming to serve at the castle?" Zelda said.

Susan glanced down at her feet, and for a moment Link feared the princess had gone too far. Then the maid lifted her head and spoke.

"Unemployed. Couldn't find work for a year. I'd always dreamed of being something more than a maid, of course. What girl doesn't? But it's work, it doesn't follow me home, and as I'm sure you've discovered, Master Link, chatting with Her Highness is always a pleasure."

"We could easily get by on half the staff we have," Zelda said. "A quarter, if we did things like make our own beds and choose our own clothes. But it creates jobs. Same thing with the military. Why do you think we keep it so large? We haven't even seen a battle since the Farona Insurrection over a century ago."

Link looked down at his sandwich. He did feel somewhat better about the pampering service now, but he doubted that it would ever truly sit easily with him. He had always been taught to do things for himself. Being lazy was a flaw in character. But he could see Zelda's point.

"I get a little weirded out by it too, sometimes," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure Nabooru could tell you all about the fuss I made when they started trying to make my bed for me. But we all have to make sacrifices." She winked at him and giggled.

He wasn't sure how he felt about her humor, but at last he put the sandwich in his mouth. He had not realized how hungry he was until he tasted the soft bread. He consumed it in seconds.

"I'm so glad our food pleases you so much," Susan said, grinning.

He had one more - peanut butter this time - while Zelda and Desi split an egg salad sandwich. Once they were finished, Zelda dismissed Susan and took Link on a tour of the castle.

If Link's new room was large, then the castle's rooms were positively cavernous. The towering shelves in the library were far enough apart that four could comfortably walk abreast down the aisles. They peered through a window at a giant room where a veritable farm of people working at desks, typing furiously, making calls, and taking notes. Even Zelda's study, crammed full of bookcases, posters, and kitten plushies seemed remarkably open and uncluttered.

"I'd show you the throne room, but I think father's still meeting with the Gerudo emissary," Zelda said.

Their tour ended in the center of the castle, in the small chapel where the Royal Family paid homage to the three golden goddesses. There were shrines elsewhere to the light spirits, the Goddess Hylia, the storm gods, and others, but at the heart of it all the austere triune of Din, Nayru, and Farore reigned supreme.

Link marveled at the perfect rows of gently-burning candles, the flaming arms of Din that seemed to tie the ceiling together, the cowled monks that stood unmoving in small enclaves hewn in the room's three sides. The air felt cleaner here, somehow, as if he had stepped into a bubble set apart from the world. The soft patter of his feet on the hard, wooden floor echoed throughout the chamber. He winced that he had so disturbed the seemingly perfect stillness, but Zelda kept walking, and so he followed, clacking his feet all the way.

"Have you ever played an organ before, Link?" she whispered.

He shook his head.

"Mr. Timmons bought a keyboard for the orphanage once, but it didn't take long to realize that that was a bad idea."

"Give it a try," she offered.

He looked around. All the monks were steadily gazing straight forward, as if completely oblivious to their presence. Still, he could not shake the feeling that someone was watching him, that he was intruding on another's home.

"The goddesses delight in song," Zelda said. "It's okay."

As they were speaking, Desi climbed on the organ bench and began to play a ponderous tune with a single hand. Even she seemed rather somber in this place. Her face was a vacant mask; her only expression was the tip of her tongue protruding slightly from her lips as her hand measured its way across the keyboard.

"Show Link how to play," Zelda told her when the girl had finished.

Desi smiled and patted the bench next to her. His anxiety evaporated as soon as he sat down and saw the mammoth instrument before him, its pipes running up the wall, through the ceiling, and out of sight.

The song she had played opened with a big leap up the keyboard. The first time he played it, he had to lift his hand completely off the instrument, breaking the sound and ruining the melodious spell that had begun to enchant him. Then Desi showed him how he could hold a key down with one finger while he positioned his hand to strike the next. He had to stretch quite a bit to reach, and it was made even more awkward by having to use his right hand, but he soon achieved at least some manner of flow between the first three notes.

He could not say how long he spent at the organ. Long enough, at least, for his bottom to grow sore, and his back stiff. Desi was patient with him, slowly coaching him through the rest of the song. Sometimes Zelda chimed in with advice. "Try using your thumb for that note instead," or "It would help if you kept your wrist straight." No one ever spoke louder than a whisper.

Progress came slowly, but eventually the two girls agreed that he was ready to play it through without their help. Desi scooted off the bench, and he faced down the organ alone. As he struck the first key, a wave of calm engulfed him. Somehow, he knew that he would play it right. He knew that it would be perfect. When his fingers traversed the keyboard, it was as if they were gripping the hand of an old friend. He felt an energy guiding him, soothing his hands, pouring from him into the organ, and from the organ, out its pipes into the vast universe.

When he was finished, he released a breath he did not know he had been holding and lowered a shaking hand into his lap. No one spoke.

The next sound he heard was a clap of thunder, followed by a torrent of rain pouring down upon the roof. Then, a laugh erupted from behind him. He turned to see Zelda, hands raised high above her head, her whole body trembling in laughter.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"You played the Song of Storms," Desi said, her face slightly pale.

A flash of lightning through the stained-glass windows nearly blinded him as another roar of thunder announced the heavens' fury.

Mr. Owlan would probably say something about a large sample space. Miss Rebecca would smile politely and say, "That's very interesting, dear. I didn't know you had musical talent." Even he wanted to tell himself that he was being silly. People did not just conjure storms.

But he had felt something. Every part of him wanted to call it stupid, but he had felt a call to the universe in the song he had played. This was no coincidence. He had sung the Song of Storms to the goddesses, and they had responded with the fiercest onslaught he had known in years.

* * *

**A/N: **I just realized that my em-dashes have not been displaying correctly on this site. I apologize for any confusion this may have caused, and I will go back and edit whenever I stop feeling lazy about it.

In the future, an em-dash will be denoted as a hyphen surrounded by a single space on each side: " - " Which isn't right at all, but whatever. If you know of a better way to handle it, let me know, yeah?


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Link, tell them you can't. Tell them you're happier here. You can't just leave, you can't."

Fado's voice trembled as she spoke, and when he looked up, there were tears welling up in her eyes.

"Fado, this could be my last chance." Link placed a hand on her shoulder, and she began sobbing. "No one else even wants to talk to me. I could have a family. Besides, I bet I could visit you sometimes. Maybe on one of the picnics over break."

She launched herself at him then, little fists pummeling his chest in a desperate fury.

"Go then!" she screeched. "Get out. You never belonged here anyway, you loser."

He staggered backward, more from the venom in his voice than the onslaught. He tried to think, tried to see why she was so angry, but his thoughts were a murky sludge.

"Yeah, leave," said the two girls beside Fado. They had names, he was sure of it, but when he tried to focus there was only pain. His head throbbed, pulsing with the beat of his heart.

He ran away, but the farther he ran, the louder the jeers grew. He looked back over his shoulder to see the three girls standing there, just as close as when he had started running. He put on a new burst of speed, but when he looked back in front of himself, Miss Rebecca was standing there, hands on her hips.

"What are you doing here?" she said.

Link tried to focus. He didn't even know where 'here' was. He looked around for some clue, but all he saw was a canvass of black, and a crowd of orphans gathering up behind him.

"You will leave my children alone," she commanded.

"But it's me!" he tried to say, but she had vanished.

A pebble collided with his head, toppling him to the ground. As he tried to stand, another impacted his ribs. He pushed himself to his knees and saw Fado standing above him, a slingshot in her hands.

"We don't want you," she said, and the others chorused their agreement.

Link ran, and this time it worked. He still heard their roar behind him, and pebbles whizzed past his head, but as he added more and more speed he slowly began to outdistance them.

Then, in the distance, a structure began to take form. At first, it appeared as merely a small orb hovering over the ground, but as he approached it expanded until a great temple of stone stood before him. Its shape changed each time he looked at it, but he knew that he would be safe within.

Breaking into a frantic sprint, he bolted up the front steps and through the massive door that marked the entrance. He collapsed to his knees, panting. When he looked back, all the children who had pursued him were gone. There was nothing outside, only a deep blackness that it hurt to look at.

There was no sun outside, nor torches or lights within the temple, yet even so, he could see. He stood amid a circle of seven altars, each emblazoned with a pattern he could not recognize. He looked down and saw that he had a mighty sword, double-edged and fearsome, and dripping with blood.

"Rest, Link. You are safe here as any man can be. For where the Sages stand as one, no evil may penetrate."

Zelda's voice resounded through the chamber, seeming to come from both everywhere and nowhere at once.

"There are no Sages," he heard himself say. "There are but seven coffins of stone, empty for an age, and forgotten."

Then, from a door high above him, the Princess of Hyrule emerged. Her face pale and

solemn as an edifice as marble, she descended the spiral stairs. Where she stepped, light sprang forth, surrounding her in a sparkling aura.

She made not a sound on her descent. Link heard neither the clack of her shoes upon the stone floor, nor the rustling of her white dress, nor even her breath. Silently, she approached him and took his hand.

"Then we will stand ourselves, and woe betide any who threaten this sanctuary," she said.

But even as she spoke, the temple began to rumble. Link raised his sword in front of him, preparing to defend himself, but he knew somehow that this was a foe that would not fall to mere swordplay.

With a crash, all the windows collapsed inward, and gallon upon gallon of sand poured through. In seconds, it had spread to every corner of the room, and it piled steadily higher.

Hand-in-hand, Link and Zelda fled to the entrance, the doorway that opened into the black abyss outside, but their pace was slow. The sand had risen past their ankles, and it moved with a force so great it threatened to knock them from their feet.

"The sword! You have to drop the sword. It's slowing us down," Zelda pleaded, but he could no more let it go than he could let his arm fall from his body.

Still the sand continued to pour in. When it rose past his boots, it burned the exposed skin of his calf. He stumbled, flinging out his hands to catch himself as he collided with the ground. He fought to raise himself up, to keep his head above the engulfing flow.

Zelda tugged at his arm, but the sand had him. His hands were stuck to the ground, frozen in place by the burning particles. As the sand began to cover his shoulders, he raised his head, refusing to be submerged while he could still fight it.

But when he looked up, the walls of the temple were gone. There was instead a mountain, carved into the face of a woman. As he watched, the mountainside cracked, and the stone fell away, and from the ruins emerged the lady whose face it once bore. She stood tall as the mountain itself, stern, with dark eyes that seemed eager to devour. As the sand piled higher and higher, and at last rose to his face, the last thing he saw was her thin smile.

* * *

Link's first waking feeling was relief at not actually drowning in sand.

His second was confusion. He lay beneath a thick comforter that smelt of lilac, and below that a layer of sheets that felt as soft on his skin as a wisp of cloud. This was not his bed. This was not his room.

Understanding came in a trickle. The previous night's storm had been quite fierce indeed, and Nabooru had not been keen to drive in it. One phone call later, Kafei had consented to let him stay the night at the castle.

Link sat up and stretched. His heart still raced too fast to allow him to sleep again. Some water, perhaps, might soothe him, but he was not sure he wanted to go wandering through the strange castle's many passageways alone at night.

The door crept open. A sliver of light from the hallway cast itself into the room, a shadow passed through it, and the door closed again.

"Who's there?" Link mumbled, still somewhat groggy.

"It's me," Zelda said. "Turn on your lamp."

He reached over to the nightstand he remembered being beside his bed. His hand grasped a ridged pole and felt its way down to the base.

"There should be a switch on the bottom," Zelda said. Her footsteps pattered closer.

He soon found it. Link winced in anticipation of the harsh light, but when he opened his eyes, there was only a soft glow emanating from the bulb.

Zelda sat down at the edge of his bed and handed him a chilled glass.

"I always enjoy iced tea after a nightmare," she said.

"Was I screaming?" His face warmed. He had thought no one had known. He wondered if he often screamed in his sleep, if his roommates had had to put up with it.

"I've been dreaming, too," Zelda said. "A flood of sand pouring through the windows of an abandoned temple."

"You too?" He sat up straighter. "What else have you dreamed?" It did not make sense. Sharing a dream should not have been possible, but there was no other way for her to have known what he saw.

She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. It felt odd to see her without a smile. When he saw her face, wreathed in the darkness of the room, he thought he could see a hint of the presence, the wisdom that seemed so natural in the great princesses of legend. On her, however, it seemed alien. The Zelda he knew was not so plagued with concern.

"I dreamed of you," she said. "Since June."

A chill ran through him. He looked away, down into his glass of tea. He knew the legends as well as anyone, and he did not like what she implied.

"How-" he began. He was not sure how to finish. _How did you know you dreamed of me? How did we come to be friends? How do you know the dreams mean anything?_ "Just… how?" he said at last.

For a moment, the corner of her mouth turned upward in a weak smile. She reached a hand out toward him, hesitated, then brought it back to her lap.

"Luck," she said. "Or maybe the Goddesses arranged it. I spent all summer looking for you at one orphanage or another, but it was really just an accident that I stumbled into in that coffee shop."

The pieces slammed together all at once. She had seen him in _Cuccos and Coffee_, and the very next day a family had come in and adopted him, after years of being ignored.

"Kafei didn't really want me, did he?" Of course not. Why would he have been that hopeful? He tried to hide the disappointment, but tears had already started to moisten the corners of his eyes. He knew he was being stupid, that even with the princess's intervention he still had a better life than he had ever known, but it didn't matter. The acceptance he had felt had been a lie. He wondered if even Zelda's friendship was genuine, or if he was just some imagined tool.

Again, Zelda reached out a hand, but stopped when he retreated from it.

"They had already been talking about adoption. And Anju, I believe, thinks that it was Kafei's idea."

He forced himself to sip at his tea. The cool liquid did help a little bit. He had not realized how thirsty he was until he began to drink.

"I hate having to do this," Zelda continued. "People just shouldn't be used like that. But I had to. We have to be ready."

"Ready for what?"

"I don't know. But it's coming, whatever it is."

He set the cup down on the nightstand and slid to his feet, relieved, at least, that he had decided to sleep in his running clothes. He walked back and forth across the room, trying to grasp what Zelda was saying. He was worried about his ability to pass Algebra, and now she wanted him to become the Hero of Hyrule.

"How do you know?" he said. "Even if these nightmares are the sign of some threat, how do you know I'm the hero?"

"I don't. I can't be sure until I see the Triforce of Courage rest on the back of your hand. But when I saw you, it felt right. And if that's not enough for you, you just called a storm last night."

"Coincidences happen," he said. If she had asked him about the storm yesterday, he would have told her that he felt something in the song, that maybe there was something weird going on. But now, that didn't matter. She was wrong. He could not be the hero.

"Look, even if there is something more out there, and I somehow changed the whether with a song a I just learned, that doesn't mean I'm the hero," he continued. "He's supposed to be strong and brave and fearsome. I couldn't even summon the courage to approach any of the visiting parents at the orphanage."

"Then become strong," Zelda said. "Link, I know it's weird, and frightening, but I saw your face in my dreams. It's you, I know it is. The darkness is growing. I have felt it, and I know you feel it too. If Ganon returns with the Triforce of Power, we have to be ready for him."

She strode over to where he stood and dropped to her knees.

"Please. As the Princess of Hyrule, I beg you, for the sake of my people, give us your courage once more."

It felt so wrong to see the girl who would one day run the country on her knees before him, a pitiful orphan. He wanted to run away, out the door, out of the castle, all the way back to his new home where no one wanted anything of him except that he study hard and keep things clean. He would have done so, had his legs not been rooted to the ground. He found that he had forgotten how to move, how to speak, and he could only stare down at the princess.

"If I am wrong, then I will give you anything you want. As the Princess of Hyrule, Heir to the Triforce of Wisdom, I swear it."

"What am I supposed to do?" he said when he finally found his voice.

"I don't know," Zelda said. "I don't even know that it's Ganon we're fighting. But together, we'll figure it out. Until then, prepare. You say you are weak, so become strong." She had not moved from her kneeling position. Her arms hung down by her sides, hands resting open on the ground. Her head was bowed, her golden hair draped loose over her shoulders.

He owed her nothing. She had altered his life for the sole purpose of gaining a tool. It didn't matter that the changes were good ones; she had no right to interfere with that. He ought to tell her to keep her plots to herself. It would certainly be justified.

But as much as he wanted to spurn her, he simply couldn't. What she said made too much sense, for one. The dreams that Zelda knew about without him telling her, the storm, the rightness he felt around her, it all fit so much better if Zelda was right.

And if she was right, and he turned her down, he didn't think he could face the consequences. Several times a year, Mr. Timmons had driven him and the others to memorials, honoring those who had fallen to Ganon's various attacks. The count of those who had died was staggering, some tens of thousands all together. That had been when there had been a Hero to oppose him, and very few people had even been alive to start with. The thought of this ancient menace, loose in the modern world of millions upon millions of people, with no one to stand against his atrocities was unbearable.

"I'll do my best," he promised, though he still hoped that it all turned out to be a mistake. He did not fancy the idea of heroism, and there was always the gift that Zelda promised if she was wrong besides. Perhaps he could get a free college education out of it.

Zelda sprang to her feet and wrapped her arms around him with a force that almost knocked him to the ground.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, I knew I could count on you," she said.

She was much too close. He supposed the proper thing to do would be to hug her back, but he still hadn't quite forgiven her for using him, and he was acutely aware of her body pressed against his, and all she was wearing was a thin tank top with her bare arms stretching around his neck, and why couldn't she just back off one or two steps?

His silent plea was answered when the door swung open, and Zelda instantly detached.

"I heard voices. What-" Nabooru began. She cut herself off with a string of expletives that Link was certain he wasn't meant to hear.

"I shall take the charitable interpretation here, and assume that you have just roped him into your insane little plan," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"He said-"

"No. I am not dealing with this at two o'clock in the damn morning. Go to bed, princess."

Zelda grinned and hugged Nabooru as she walked out the door.

"You sure take your job seriously," Zelda said.

"'It's just one princess,' I said," Nabooru muttered. "How much trouble could she possibly get into?"

Once Zelda was out of the room, Nabooru shut the door and turned on Link.

"Be careful, boy," she said in a fierce whisper. "I do not know how much of what she says is real. I'm not sure I know anything anymore. But if the King of Darkness is rising once more, then Hero or not, you are in over your head. You have not tasted the desperation of the desert, boy, and I pray you never have to. Good night."

It was a long time before he fell asleep again, and when he did, his dreams were filled with the dark mutterings of a thousand dead men.

* * *

**Note****:** School resumes on Monday, so updates will slow down for a time. I will be taking four classes in addition to my full-time job, but I will do my best to work on this story when I can.


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Remember Link's Algebra partner? I've changed her name to Aghreal. Think it fits better. Sorry for the inconvenience.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Morning brought with it the tranquility of a muddled mind. Link was still every bit as unsure about Zelda's revelation as he had been when she had given it, but halfway within the realm of sleep as he was, he had not the energy to pursue it further.

He enjoyed a light breakfast of toast and sausage with Zelda and Desi. They sat in an alcove with a giant window, looking out at the dreary day that awaited. The storm had at last died off, but rain still spattered the window, running down it like a blurry sheet.

"Up for some studying before we take you back?" Zelda said, nursing a cup of black coffee as delicately as if had been a vapor she was afraid of dispersing. The bitter edge of its odor alone brought him more from his drowsiness. Eight o'clock was far too early to be up on a weekend, but he would not have felt comfortable sleeping in past noon as a guest of the castle.

"Already?" Desi said, wrinkling her nose. "It's Saturday morning."

"You know, Desi, there's no law saying homework has to be done on Sundays. Besides, I doubt Kafei would be terribly pleased about Link staying here too much longer."

Link wondered whether Zelda could do anything that would displease Kafei, but he kept his mouth shut, save only to agree. He was not sure how much Desi knew, and he was not eager to have word spread that he was some sort of hero.

Zelda had the same easy air with schoolwork as she did with everything else. She sat beside him as he worked out problems, close enough to observe, but not so close that her presence felt invasive. When he stumbled, she nudged him in the right direction without making him feel stupid, and she was always ready with a trick or two to make things easier.

"Just remember: When the signs are the same, you find the sum, and the sign of the sum is the same as the signs," she intoned.

When at last it was time to return home, he felt as though he had learned more from her than he had all week at school. They chatted lightly with Nabooru on the ride back to Link's house, but as he stepped out of the car, Zelda caught his hand.

"If you have questions about anything, I'll be checking my e-mail frequently," she said. Desi peered around her, the girl's eyes flitting between Link and Zelda.

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you," he said.

Kafei was there to greet him when he came in.

"Have fun at the castle?" the man said, eyes twinkling.

Link just nodded. He wasn't sure how much he wanted to reveal. Was the grin that played at his lips just a fake, he wondered. Was his eagerness to come greet him genuine? Link couldn't be sure anymore. Looking at the slender man before him, he felt like mere property, a pawn acquired in some deal made far above him.

"Missed a lot of studying though. I should really get back to work," Link said.

But it was not school that he began to work on, once he was safe in his room. He cleared off his desk and placed two sheets of paper atop it. He divided the first sheet into two parts, labeling one 'liabilities,' and the other 'assets.' The second sheet gained the appellation 'heroic qualities.' He set the latter aside for the present. No doubt he could brainstorm enough attributes to fill the page, but he wanted to be sure that everything on that sheet was actually a quality of one of Hyrule's many heroes.

At the end of an hour, the 'liabilities' column was distressingly full, but under 'assets' he had only 'speed' and 'Zelda's money(?)' written down. He stared at the mismatched list, fighting to keep his mind from despair. It screamed at him that Zelda was wrong, that he was just a fourteen year-old boy who had gotten lucky, but then he remembered the storm and the dreams.

_Then become strong,_ Zelda had told him. He would have to become strong indeed if he was to overcome his cowardice, his lack of freedom, his stupidity. Perhaps strength was where he ought to start. It would certainly be the easiest area to improve. People got stronger all the time, but he had never heard of anyone outside of stories growing more confident.

With a shrug, he got down on the floor and did push-ups until his arms tired. He had hoped to get more than twenty, but even with that number his skin had begun to crawl, and his arms wavered beneath him.

Link pushed himself to his knees, sighing. He didn't feel any stronger after that exertion. He knew that it would take time to see a difference, but a part of him couldn't help but regret that his arms had given out so easily.

Such worries tainted his thoughts all afternoon, even after turning his mind to more mundane pursuits. Relief did not come until he put away his Chemistry text and stood up to stretch. Below, the doorbell rang. Link jumped, then, remembering that he had promised to study with Aghreal, sprinted downstairs to answer the door.

"Hey," she grunted. Her arms were crossed in front of her, and a bulky black bag rested on her back. Beside her, a rust-brown bicycle leaned against the house.

He invited her inside and led her to the sitting room. There, he pulled out a small table that they could both work at. Aghreal sat down across from him, but she made no move to unpack.

"I've been thinking," she said. He waited for her to continue, but she just sat there, arms folded across the table, staring at him.

"Oh?" he said, when the silence became unbearable.

"I have mastered this material. You…" She paused, chewed on her lip. "... have not. I see no reason to risk my grade and waste your time on these paired worksheets."

"That would be wrong," Link said immediately.

Aghreal tilted her head. "Enlighten me, then."

Link closed his eyes as he tried to find the right words. Somehow, he doubted "It's a partner worksheet; we're supposed to work on it together" would be enough to convince her.

"It takes away my chance to learn," he tried.

"And is my grade to be the price of your learning?"

"Look, it's just a few points. You're obviously good enough that it doesn't matter. Why do you care?"

She stood so quickly her chair fell over behind her.

"Do you know how I got so good?" she asked, leaning over the table. "I practiced all summer. Factoring, solving equations, graphing, every day until I grew sick of it, and then I worked some more."

"Why?" He could not deny that her claim was impressive. He even felt somewhat intimidated by her looming presence. But confusion was what won out. It just didn't make sense to spend so long on something you were about to spend a year learning anyway.

She slouched, then, with a snort, picked up her chair and sat back down.

"I failed last year," she said, picking at her thumb. "If I do not score one hundred percent this time around…" Suddenly her head shot up and her eyes narrowed. "Why else did you think I was the only Gerudo in Freshman Algebra?"

"Pardon?" Clearly, this was supposed to have some significance, but whatever there was, he could not see it.

"I'm the only one, because Gerudo take Algebra before high school. We have to. If we're not the top of the top…" She cut herself off with a violent shake of her head and settled back into her chair.

"I don't know why I'm telling you this," she muttered. "Not like you'd care."

But he did care, or at least he was curious as to what drove his classmate so. He did not think it the best time to mention this, however. She was looking to rant, not for empathy.

"How about a deal?" he said, instead. "I won't lay a finger on these worksheets anymore, but in exchange you have to help me get as good at this as you are."

"So in other words, I get to do the work of two people for class, and then I get to spend extra time getting you up to speed?"

Link shrugged. "You're the one who wants to do everything herself."

Aghreal breathed out heavily through her nose as she massaged her forehead.

"Why are you so good at looking pathetic?"

"So-"

"Yes, fine. It's a deal." Her head lolled back, but only for a moment. Then she snatched the textbook from the backpack beside her and opened it on the table.

"We'd better get started, then," she said. "We have a long way to go."

Link ended the weekend feeling more exhausted than he had felt at the end of the week. Aghreal had drilled him until it was time to make dinner, and then afterwards they had gotten a head start on the material they'd be covering next week.

"So it won't entirely suck for you," she had explained. She lacked the easy, understanding manner of the princess, but she worked with a ferocity that would simply not allow failure on his part.

The next day was spent reviewing what she and Zelda had shown him. The material somehow felt much less obvious without them sitting beside him, but with a little help from Anju he thought he was able to understand it well enough. Well enough to get by, at least.

Tired as he was, and troubled by his new task, he found the time away from school refreshing nonetheless. He even managed a smile as he walked into his Chemistry class. Aghreal actually talked to him during Algebra, and later he even managed to carry out a (very broken) conversation in Old Hylian.

The subject of Mythology that day was the Triforce. Mr. Rauru, a reserved-looking older gentleman with a round torso and a profound baritone voice, stood mutely beside the whiteboard as the students trickled in and found their seats.

"I trust everyone took advantage of the beautiful weekend," he said once the bell signaled the start of class. Beside Link, Zelda let out a polite chuckle, but the majority of the room just stared at him in silence.

"Hrm. Well then. To work.

"Now, I'm sure you've all heard the tales of the Triforce. The three aspects, its origin, all the wars about it. So today I want to look at how our understanding of this relic came to be."

Link sighed. Of course they were talking about the Triforce. There was no other object so tightly bound to the Hero or legends. Was this, too, part of the princess's plot? Did she alter the curriculum to fit or needs, or was this just a coincidence?" Link glanced at Zelda out of the corner of his eyes. If she noticed, she hid it well.

"A curious fact is that our very earliest sources do not speak of the Triforce as a whole. Only as the Triforce of Courage and so forth. At the other extreme, some heretical sects, notably that of Sierpinski, have tried to suggest that each element of the Triforce is in itself a complete Triforce, composed of three complete Triforces which each contain three… Yes, Shad?"

A lanky brown-haired boy stood up.

"Sir, what about these theories of a Tetraforce? Of course, the literature on them isn't nearly as comprehensive, but it's hardly surprising that something so… anti-doctrinal would not flourish. So far as I can tell, the sources themselves are not inherently any less valid."

He sat back down. Mr. Rauru looked down at him for a few seconds more, then, clearing his throat, began to pace toward the center of the classroom.

"Hrm. The theory of the Tetraforce is certainly popular among some circles. However, there are a number of issues.

"First, this theory supposes that the fourth piece is a complement to Power. Or more appropriately, that there is a Tetraforce of Creative Power and a Tetraforce of Destructive Power. However, this alters the balance. Tell me, what is so special about Power that it should gain a brother, while Wisdom and Courage stand apart?

"Further, what divinity would have formed the fourth piece? The Goddess Hylia may perhaps have been powerful enough, but as you well know her lineage as already lay claim to Wisdom."

His gaze passed over Zelda as he said this, and Link wondered that she did not blush. As a princess, she must have been used to the attention, he supposed.

Mr. Rauru droned on. Link supposed that he ought to pay attention. Details about the Triforce could very well be the most important thing he learned in school that year. If the legends had any validity, he would almost certainly have to acquire a piece of it, after all.

But the lecture could not hold his interest. The man's monotone was like white noise, providing a perfect backdrop for daydreaming. Before he knew it, he was lost in an image of the barren wastelands that encompassed Hyrule, wrestling with the lost powers rumored to be out there still.

Zelda shook him awake in time for the small group discussion. Claiming to have need of a certain book, she grabbed Link and pulled him away from the class, toward the thin bookshelf in the corner.

"Thoughts?" she whispered, running a finger slowly across the varied book bindings.

He told her of his list, and his brief attempt at physical training.

"That's good; you'll certainly need strength," she said, nodding. She removed a rather thick leather book from the shelf and flipped to the index.

"But if strength were enough, you'd just ask Groose," he said, finishing the unspoken thought.

Zelda smiled; an audible puff of air escaped her nose.

"The Hero is most often known his for courage," Zelda said. "Are you brave, Link?"

He shook his head. His first day of school had been terrifying enough. He certainly would not have the heart to stand up to monsters that could actually hurt him.

"Well, why don't we start with that, then?" Zelda said, returning the book to the shelf. "The way to overcome fear is to do things that are terrifying. So, by the end of the week, you are going to ask a girl out on a date."

Link opened his mouth.

"And you can't ask me," Zelda cut in with a giggle. "That would be too easy."

"Is this just an elaborate plot to find Desi a boyfriend?" he asked, following her back to their seats.

"No, but thanks for the idea. Besides, we should probably make her off-limits as well."

Then they were back, and their discussion turned by necessity to the topic of the Triforce. Looking at the other two members of their group, Link supposed that they couldn't have found a more mismatched team if they tried.

On his left sat Shad, a wiry boy who seemed to grasp the subject better at times than Mr. Rauru did. After only one week of class, they had already been kept after the bell had rung twice, due to his incessant flurry of questions and challenges.

Groose completed the party, a hulking red-haired running back, who at times barely seemed capable of forming a coherent sentence. From what little Link had seen of him, he spent more time staring at Zelda than he did actually participating in class.

He wondered if Zelda might use the boy as another way of building his courage. _'Groose won't leave me alone. Tell him to back off, Link. It'll be good for you.'_ Zelda seemed like a girl who could speak for herself though, much to Link's relief. One good punch from Groose would probably lay him out for a week straight.

One good thing about the group was that there was seldom much need for him to do anything. Shad and Groose easily dominated all the discussions. Presently, Shad was trying to convince the other that no, he wasn't just going to find the Triforce sitting around in Hyrule Park.

"Yeah, well how do you know it's not there, huh?" Groose said. "I bet you haven't even looked. You just sit on your butt and read all day."

Shad massaged his face with his hand.

"Groose, I read so I don't have to go out and look for things. The last news of the Triforce was that it was buried under the ocean. For it to wind up in Hyrule Park would be absolutely, totally, and in all other ways inconceivable."

After another half-hour of listening to their banter, it was finally time for gym. Like last week, they were playing tennis. He found that he was getting somewhat good at the game. He still had some work to do on intercepting the ball with his racket, but when he did hit it, the ball tended to fly right where he aimed it.

He was still no match for Desi, though. She was his partner for the day. The way she zipped around the court, one would hardly think she even needed Link there. Watching her leap up to spike a ball over the net, Link wondered just how much of her aversion to running and exercise was feigned.

At the end of the period, they had accumulated nine wins and just one loss. He and Desi high-fived and went their separate ways. As usual, Irene was waiting for him in her car.

"Buck up, kid; I'm not that ugly," she muttered as he entered.

"Why yes, Irene, I'm doing absolutely fantastic. How are you?"

Irene snorted.

"Don't get cute, kid. That's not you."

Link just turned and stared out the window. In truth, he did not much feel like bantering with Irene. By the end of the first week, he had begun to appreciate her sardonic nature, but now he just wanted to think.

No matter which direction his thoughts went, they all came back to Zelda in the end. She was using him, messing with areas even the Princess of Hyrule had no right to touch. By any logic, he ought not trust her at all.

But each time they met, this reticence vanished as if it had never been there. She had a manner of speaking that made him feel as though he were the only person in Hyrule. Away from her, in the car with Irene, he could easily tell himself that this was simply a skill every princess needs. He could not keep this distance when in her presence, however.

He was wise enough, at least, to see that regardless of her character, this quest was important enough to take seriously. If she went to unsavory means to protect her country, that was a reflection on her, not on the task. And so there was no way to avoid asking a girl on a date.

Link told himself that whomever he asked would not even need to say yes. He could simply walk up to some stranger in the hall, ask her to a movie, get turned down, and the quest would be complete. He found this reasoning to make the task no less daunting, however.

When Irene dropped him off at his house, for once he did not immediately start on his homework. Instead, he dropped his backpack in his room, opened the window, and let the breeze play across his face. He was tired of thinking, tired of worrying. All he needed was a moment to relax and enjoy the present.

Baking cookies would be a good way to unwind, he decided. He did not have that much homework; he could easily take care of it after dinner. Then once the cookies were finished, it would be time to start preparing the meal proper. Lasagna, perhaps, would be a good choice. Anju had just picked up the noodles for it the previous weekend.

"Are you trying to make me fat, Link?" Kafei chuckled when he returned home. "Those cookies smell delicious. Chocolate chip?"

"With walnuts," Link said.

"I suppose it would set a bad example to sample them before dinner," Kafei said, taking a long glance at the tray of cooling cookies.

At last Anju came home and they were able to eat. The lasagna turned out surprisingly well; it was the first time he had made it. Everyone had seconds. He still did not know whether he was truly cut out to be Hyrule's new Hero, but for the moment he was at peace. Tomorrow would take care of itself.

* * *

**A/N: **Yes, I'm fudging the timeline. Don't care.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The next morning, Link succumbed to the lure of coffee. He would need the edge.

It was the heat of the liquid, more than anything, that first distracted him from his headache and the memories of the night's visions. He stifled a yelp as it scalded his lips and burned its way down to his stomach.

The drink was quite bitter too, even though he had tempered it with quite a bit of milk. He wondered, briefly, if this was all just some sort of trick to startle the body awake with a plethora of sharp, unpleasant sensations. But as he persisted, he felt hint of a nervous energy rising within him. As Irene pulled to a stop in front of his house, he could only hope that the energy would last.

"Wow, you look like someone poisoned your water supply and then set it on fire," Irene said as he opened the door to her car.

"I have a lot on my mind."

"Yeah, don't care."

It ought to be simple, he told himself as they passed through the residential district. All he had to do was find a girl, say "Would you like to get ice cream with me on Saturday?" and then go tell Zelda he had completed the task. And just so he could get it over with, he would do it before Chemistry. The first girl he saw, even.

A flood of profanity jarred him from his musings. He cringed as Irene threatened to do something quite improbable with an offending driver's windshield wiper.

"Hey, you're a girl," he blurted once she had settled. Link cursed himself almost as he said it. The first girl he saw, indeed. He really should have waited until he got to school to make that commitment, but now it was too late. A promise was a promise, even if only to himself.

"Wow, real thinker here. Thanks for noticing. It's not like we've been riding together for an entire damn week or anything."

Link swallowed, opened his mouth, swallowed again.

"Ice cream after school?" He cringed as he said it. Not one part of this plan was working out.

Irene chuckled, then swerved hard, barely making the turn onto 3rd Street.

"Are you trying to ask me out, kid?"

He nodded. With this luck, his voice would go and crack if he tried to say 'yes.'

She reached over and ruffled his hair, veering slightly right as she did so.

"Yeah, that's gonna be a no. Just… no."

Link looked down at his legs. If he had been asked this morning, he would have said that he didn't expect any girl to agree to go out with him. Yet, at Irene's blunt refusal, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment. She hadn't even given a reason. He just wasn't good enough for her.

He sighed.

"You're doing that chipmunk thing again, kid."

But then again, with her attitude, perhaps it had been a blessing that she refused. He cracked a smile at his own joke, and as the trip wore on his mood gradually lightened. By the time he arrived, he was even willing to joke about his blunder.

"Not too late to change your mind," he told her as they walked together toward the building.

"If your goal is to get all the stupid out of you before school starts, I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that."

Once inside, they parted ways. Link hoped that Irene wouldn't be belligerent about the morning's incident, but expecting Irene to be nice was rather like hoping that a Remlit would be docile at night.

On the way to his locker, Link saw Aghreal walking away from a cluster of Gerudo that seemed to be her age. Her head was bowed, and her backpack sat high up on her shoulders.

"'Morning, Aghreal," he said, walking up to her.

She stopped and slowly raised her head. For an instant, her eyes were cold. Then, her shoulders relaxed, the muscles in her face loosened, and when she looked at him it seemed as though she wore a vacant mask.

"Unless this is somehow important, I'd rather not talk to you right now." Her voice sounded dull, but behind it there was a small edge that spoke of a fierce control. She continued walking, and Link stepped aside to let her pass.

His gaze turned to the other Gerudo. A number of them were looking at him, or perhaps past him toward Aghreal. Two allowed crude grins to spread across their faces.

Gerudo stuck together. That's what everyone said, and that is indeed what he had seen; with the exception of Aghreal and Nabooru he had never encountered less than four Gerudo at a time. It was certainly none of his business, but he couldn't help but wonder why she was separated. Surely it was not just because she had failed Algebra; people failed classes all the time.

For a terrifying moment he thought he ought to talk to the group, insist that they treat his friend better. But then he asked himself why they should heed a kid like him. If anything, his interference would only make things worse for Aghreal. At any rate, he didn't feel he understood Gerudo society nearly well enough to say anything useful. Best not to get involved. He continued to his locker.

When he saw Aghreal in Algebra, she had already reverted back to her detached self, lounging in her chair with arms crossed, and answering questions in a monotone.

As the period came to a close, he turned to her and said: "I really think I'm starting to get this. Much easier than last week."

Aghreal said "Good job" with a shrug, and left.

"What did I tell you?" Mike muttered in his ear.

Zelda joined him again for lunch. She did not eat with him every day, of course. She had other friends, after all, and he certainly did not begrudge her her efforts to keep up with them.

"Any luck?" she said, sliding in across from him.

Link pressed his lips into a tight smile and nodded. Zelda's eyebrows shot up.

"Already? Well then, it seems you're a bit more courageous than you thought."

He acknowledged the compliment with a tilt of his head and a faint blush.

"Who'd you ask?"

"Irene."

Her hand went to her mouth, not quite concealing the upturned corners of her lips as her shoulders began to convulse. Link slowly spooned chicken soup into his mouth until at last she regained her composure.

"What did she say?" she said, her voice not quite back under control.

"In a word: 'no.'"

"I'm sorry, Link. I really shouldn't be laughing at you like this. An interesting choice, to be sure. Although, I had really rather hoped that this would take a bit longer."

She pushed around her salad with her fork.

"So girls certainly aren't a problem. What does frighten you, then?"

Link thought. He could certainly remember any number of times he had been frightened in the past: going to picnics, the first day of school, and the nightmares stood out the most. But he wasn't sure he could get it all down to one thing and say: "This is what frightens me."

While he thought, Zelda sat quietly across from him, continuing her lunch. She glanced at him from time to time, but he felt no pressure from her to rush through his thoughts.

"I'm afraid of not being accepted," he told her.

Zelda smiled.

"But when Mike insulted your friend, you walked away from him," she said. "You aren't on the track team, even though everyone knows you would be quite the star there. And you struggle through Algebra, risking the scorn of your peers with every question answered, when you could ask to be placed in an easier class at any time.

"Are you quite certain that courage is a problem for you?"

He stared. He had never thought of it like that.

"Zelda, in that car with Irene, I was so terrified I couldn't even think straight. It was like my tongue was stuck to the inside of my mouth."

"But you asked her anyway. Less than a day after I told you to. You didn't even wait."

She reached across the table and placed a hand on his.

"It doesn't matter that you're afraid. You do the right thing anyway. That's exactly what Hyrule needs."

_That's exactly what you need,_ he thought to himself. But for all he tried to be cynical, he could not stifle the warmth rising up within him. He respectfully slid his hand out from under hers.

"Maybe it's more boldness than just courage that I'm looking," Link said when he found his voice again.

Zelda nodded slightly as she chewed. When she swallowed, she said: "Either way, you'll still be doing things that make you uncomfortable. Any ideas?"

He told her of his encounter with Aghreal that morning. "So maybe I could confront her friends about it?"

Zelda rested her chin on her hands for a long moment.

"No, I think you were right to stay away. Being bold shouldn't mean being stupid. They'd see a Hylian sticking up for a Gerudo as being quite scandalous."

"Scandalous how? She's my friend."

"Hyrulian society hasn't quite forgiven the Gerudo for their role in past wars, I'm afraid," Zelda said. "Most are still somewhat distrustful. But they work so hard that they rise to the top anyway. It's become a point of pride. Gerudo take care of Gerudo. You understand?"

"So she shouldn't have to need my assistance with anything, is what you're saying."

"Exactly," Zelda said, nodding.

"People are so complicated," Link grumbled, slumping forward.

"Tell you what," Zelda said. "I'll see if we can't get you to join Nabooru and I when we work on. On the weekends, at least. Won't help with boldness exactly, but it'll keep you busy until you think of something.

_I'm busy enough, _he wanted to say, but he forced the thought back. He was supposed to be tough, resourceful, Hyrule's savior. He would find a way to make it work. Besides, even amidst the bustle of modern life, the Gerudo were still revered as masters of physical combat. Even if she did did not actually teach him to fight, training just a little bit under Gerudo would surely be an opportunity that few would pass up.

"When do we start?"

At the end of the day, he found Irene waiting for him by the front door instead of in her car.

"Kafei gonna mind if we take a detour?" she said as they picked their way through the parking lot.

Link shook his head. "I'm cool with it too, if you were wondering."

Irene just grunted and climbed in her car.

Neither spoke until they reached their destination. Link looked out the window and gaped. They were parked in front of Sandra's Ice Cream Parlor. He slowly stepped out of the car as Irene came around from the other side.

"Haven't had a date in forever anyway," she muttered as she passed him. He remained standing there for a moment, then hurried to catch up with her.

"Here's how this is gonna work, kid," she said as they stood in line. "I'm buying for both of us. You make any noise about it, you're walking home. You buy something stupid like a single-scope vanilla cone, you're walking home. You suggest sharing a banana split, you're walking _everywhere_. Capiche?"

Link nodded. He was certainly not about to turn down free ice cream.

He ended up with a small root beer float, while Irene chose a strawberry-chocolate sundae for herself. The pair walked to a small end table by a window and sat down to eat. Link eagerly began sipping at his float. It wasn't long before he heard Irene sigh.

He looked up, eyebrows raised.

"You've never been on a date before, have you, kid?"

"No, I did 'em all the time at the orphanage," Link deadpanned.

"Look, I'm gonna walk you through this one, because I'm nice-"

Link snorted.

"-but you're really gonna have to step it up if you want to keep the Princess's attention."

Link bolted upright in his chair. "No! That's not- We aren't-" he sputtered.

"Kid, you had a sleepover at the castle within a week of meeting her. It is, and you are. If you're smart, you will continue to be. Trust me, no one's going to mess around with the Princess's boyfriend."

She crossed her arms on the table and stared straight at him, as if waiting for him to deny it. He did not. What was he going to tell her, _Zelda's really just using me to save the country from an unspecified threat?_

When several moments of silence had passed, Irene relaxed back into her chair and took a bite of her ice cream.

"Now, you ask any adult, they'll tell you the point of a date is for two people to get to know each other better. They'd also be dead wrong. The point is for you-" She stabbed her spoon at him. "-to make me feel special, so that I'll continue to date you. You have five minutes. In real life, you'd have one. Go." So saying, she crossed her arms across her chest and glanced down at her watch.

Link took a sip of his float as he tried to think what topic might intrigue her the most.

"So, uh, your car's pretty awesome," he tried.

"Yes. I know. I bought it."

"Oh, come on, I'm trying," Link said, slapping the table.

"Not very hard. Four minutes, thirty seconds."

Link thought some more and tried again. "What colleges are you applying to?"

Irene yawned, not even bothering to cover her mouth, and looked down at her watch with an exaggerated roll of her head.

"What was wrong with that?" Link demanded.

"Nothing. It's just, you know, the question literally everyone and his dog's gonna be asking me for the rest of the damn year."

"But they wouldn't have asked you yet," Link said. "Not this early."

"It's as original as similes about sliced bread. Try again."

He forced himself to slow down. Leaning back in his chair, he sipped at his float while he eyed the girl across from him. Ideas bombarded him, but he forced them to wait. He would enjoy his root beer float, and then he would sort through the ideas when he was ready.

Irene squirmed. "This ain't a free show, kid. I know I'm pretty, but you've gotta say something."

Link smiled. He found her visible discomfort quite amusing. Perhaps he would just stare at her for the rest of the date. She certainly deserved it, for all her snark. But in the end, he was a nice person.

"What was the best part of your day?" he said.

Irene nodded noncommittally. "Mmm. Safe, mundane, but potentially interesting. Really great if she actually has something good worthy mentioning. Which, in fact, I do." She leaned in. "First test in Advanced Chem. Four people failed. I aced it."

Link blinked. "Wow, I never would have guessed that you were-"

"Kid, the next word out of your mouth better not be 'smart.'"

Link smirked. "I was going to say 'a geek.'"

"Look, a geek is someone who can't handle life outside the walls of the school," she said, rolling her eyes. "A geek does well in chemistry because he's so damn socially deprived that he thinks it somehow fascinating that Unopquanternion has two hundred-whatever protons. I'm good at chemistry because I decided it is a useful thing to be good at."

Link inclined his head. It was almost as if Irene were actually expressing something like an emotion, even if the emotion was just frustration.

"And why is it useful?" he asked.

She smiled. "Because if you can control chemical interactions, you can control the  
world." For once, her biting tone was gone. She leaned in, speaking with a low, graceful voice.

"Chemistry is the secret to cancer, to restoring life to the desert, to the energy problem. But who dares to study it?" she said.

"And what secret are you hoping to uncover?"

She paused, idly twirling her spoon in her hand as she looked at him. She gnawed at the corner of her mouth.

"Aging," she said.

Link blinked. "Pardon?"

"I'm going to stop people from aging."

Link stared at her. He had no response to that. He had never even heard such a thing suggested before. Was she insane, or just too full of herself to know better?

"Um, that's incredible," he said.

"And you don't even care. Course not," she said, sighing. She scowled, and shoved a spoonful of strawberry-soaked chocolate into her mouth.

"You must be quite good at Chemistry then," he offered.

"Forget it, kid. Now you're just trying too hard."

Their banter turned to more mundane things after that: homework, favorite meals, her family by the southern border, holidays, anything at all that lacked substance. Irene did not pressure him again about making her feel special, and in truth he ended up paying more attention to his float than to her.

Once they were finished, they rose, and made their way outside.

"I don't suppose there's any chance of a good-bye kiss?" Link suggested.

Irene laughed and gave him a brief squeeze about the shoulders.

"You're cute, kid. I'll give you that much."

He attacked his homework with renewed vigor that afternoon, and finished before dinner. The evening was his, and for once he meant to enjoy it.


	9. Chapter 8

'Football,' here, refers to the sport that you actually play with your feet.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

Saturday morning, Link awoke to the scent of bacon wafting up from downstairs. After showering and making his bed, he descended to find a platter of scrambled eggs, fried bacon, and a quite excessive stack of pancakes awaiting him.

"Mothers really ought to feed their children," Anju said. She sat across the kitchen table from him, dressed in a brown bathrobe, nursing a glass of orange juice.

Link poured salt on his eggs and began to force them down. They tasted more of cardboard than egg, and they had the texture of chewing gum, but he smiled all the same.

"It's wonderful," he said, after cleansing his mouth with a bit of milk.

"You've been cooking for us so much, I think I'm starting to get lazy," she said. "It's so nice to be back in the kitchen again. Between you and Kafei, I haven't made a proper meal in a month."

Link held back a laugh. Of all the words he could use to describe Anju, 'lazy' was not among them. She worked at her inn six days a week, usually leaving well before dawn, and staying until Link's stomach began to cry out at the wait for dinner. And even then, she would still somehow find the energy to help him with his homework.

"I've been trying to get Kafei to let me make him breakfast for years now, but he says a cup of coffee is all he needs."

As she said this, Kafei entered, coffee mug in hand. His gaze flitted from the heap of food, to Anju, to Link. He grinned and shook his head as he joined them at the table.

"What's so funny?" Anju asked.

"I'm just remembering how worried you were about being a good mother," he replied. "Looks like you're taking to it quite naturally."

She smiled. Unlike the tense mask she wore to dinner, this one spread naturally up her face and into her eyes.

The smile was catching. He struggled to imagine that grin of gentle relief on someone who wanted only to use him. He had to believe that she, at least, was pure, that her care was genuine. He would have leaned across the table and hugged her right then, if he had not thought that doing so might make them think there was something wrong.

Even Kafei, for all his deceptions, made the morning more enjoyable. The simple way he sat there and held his wife's hand as they enjoyed a rare breakfast together spoke of an affection deep and true. They belonged together, as a Triforce belongs with its bearer, and for whatever reason they had chosen to give him a place beside them. Link was living out what he had not dared to dream in half a decade.

But then the meal ended, and the day resumed. Kafei went off to read. Link helped Anju wash the dishes, then retreated upstairs to his homework. Anju, most likely, took up a knitting project.

When it came time to go to the castle to exercise with Zelda and Nabooru, Anju drove him. It felt somewhat odd to enter a car without being belittled or cursed at, but he welcomed the change. He welcomed, too, Anju's care with driving. Speed limits were followed, turn signals were used, and not once did Link's fists clench in anxiety.

Anju waited with him outside the guest entrance while he waited to be admitted. He was expected, the guard assured him, but he would need an escort all the same.

A few moments later, Nabooru emerged. Her attire was not quite as traditionally Gerudo as he had seen before. She had exchanged her baggy pants for a pair of athletic shorts. They looked weird on her, as though they were somehow too comfortable for her to be wearing.

She was nonetheless fearsome for it, however. She was, as always, shirtless, exposing a stomach knotted tight with muscle. Her diamond gleamed upon her brow, and her naked scimitar hung from her hip.

Beside him, Anju retreated a step.

"Her Highness is still observing a meeting," she said. "Come. We shall wait for her in the gym."

Link bid Anju farewell, then followed Nabooru into the castle. As they strode through the corridors, Link could not stop noticing the back of the Gerudo's legs. They were not what he might call beautiful, but there was something about the stretch of her taut skin across ripples of stern muscles that entranced him even so. They were leaner, almost than those of the cross-country runners at school, yet firm and robust as those of the football stars. Though he knew it was rude to stare, his eyes kept coming back to her, as he wondered what it had taken for her to be in such excellent shape.

Nabooru barked out a laugh. "Look all you want, boy. I take no offense."

Red-faced, Link came up abreast of her, so that he would not be tempted again.

"What you said last time I was here-" he ventured, in an attempt to change the subject. Nabooru cut him off with a look.

They continued in silence until they reached the gym, if indeed it could be called that. A padded flooring covered the room, large enough that he could break into a full sprint and slow down again before reaching the other side. A mirror spanned one wall, and a small collection of strange equipment sat neatly arranged in one corner, but the room was otherwise vacant.

"If you have things in your pockets, remove them."

A cell phone, a set of keys, and a wallet went beneath the mirror.

"Now, we have time and privacy. You had questions?"

There was something odd in the way she stood there, looking at him. Her yellow eyes peered down at him, unblinking. Though they appeared relaxed, perhaps lazy even, they seemed to compel him to speak.

"You don't seem too fond of Zelda's plan."

Nabooru snorted. "Were I to speak mistrust of the Princess, it would not be to _you_."

Link flinched. Nabooru's gaze softened somewhat, and she continued.

"Yet wrapped up as you are in this, boy, you deserve some measure of honesty at least." A deep sigh escaped her nose, and her eyes floated shut with her breath.

"Yes, there is something stirring, some sorcery out of the Age of Heroes, before the drought of magic. A fool could see it, and I am no fool.

"Has she found her Hero? Hers is the blood of Hylia, and hers the gift of prophecy, if indeed it has awoken once more. It is not for me to say yea or nay.

"Yet I fear. You cannot even bring yourself to admire me without worry turning your gaze every which way. How, then, will you stand against that Power which levels kingdoms and draws forth legions of undead from the void between dimensions? Look to the desert, boy! From there has the threat of legends emerged before, and from there will it come again, whatever these fools who mutter of tolerance might say.

"Look to the desert. There, forces which have long since departed this land linger still. I have seen the Goddess, watching o'er her lands as the red sun rises. I have seen her prophet, a sorceress wielding magics of fire and ice as easily as you might grip a pencil.

"And yet, if Ganondorf rises once more, these will appear as but an annoying wind next to the sandstorm that consumes all. Can you stand up to that, boy? Do you dare?"

Link held his ground.

"Not yet."

They stood there for perhaps a minute, she looking down with a curious stare, he refusing to look away.

"You are, at the least, honest. And perhaps not so great a fool as I feared," she said at last. "But if you seek the means to defy the beast with this weekend training, you are mistaken. No woman can hold lead you into adulthood, nor any man, for that matter. That is the purview of life alone.

"But Zelda comes. Let us get ready."

Even as she spoke, the door burst open, and Zelda stormed in.

"Stubborn, short-sighted, simpering idiots!" she spat.

Her fury was such that Link almost cringed from it. He would have, had he not just spoken with Nabooru. Instead, he kept his feet firmly planted, back erect, as she crossed the room, scowling.

` "I can't believe this! The Gerudo have shown us nothing but peaceful intentions since-"

Nabooru's arm shot out. Before Link could even gasp, Zelda lay on back, Nabooru leaning over her.

"You have not the luxury of anger, however righteous," Nabooru said. "Find the rock."

For a moment, it looked as though Zelda were trying to sit up. Then she rested her head on the mat, and her eyes closed.

When at last the Princess stood up, her face was a vacant mask. There remained some tension still in her shoulders, but altogether she appeared entirely transformed from the girl who had strode into the room, cursing.

"Thank you," she said. She took a deep breath, and then her usual smile returned to light her face. "Ready to get started?"

Nabooru was ready. She launched into a flurry of calisthenics that had him sweating and breathless within minutes. And that was just the warmup.

"Follow," Nabooru grunted, and then she dashed off to the other side of the room. She had already crossed halfway before Link even realised she had moved, and Zelda too had broken into a fierce sprint. He struggled to catch them, but by the time he arrived, they had already begun the next exercise. They squatted to the ground and thrust out their legs behind them so rapidly it was like they were simply falling. A single push-up followed this. Then, returning their legs beneath, them they leapt into the air. Link tried to follow as best he could, but he soon found his legs trembling from the strain, and his breath came in ragged gasps.

Just as he feared he might collapsed, they completed the exercise. He had no time to catch his breath, however. Already they were sprinting to the other side, as fresh as though they had just woken from a late-afternoon nap.

The pattern continued. Drop. Push. Jump. Drop. Push. Jump. Here and there yet another desperate sprint. Link no longer even tried to keep up. When he squatted down, it was now truly a fall. He caught himself with his hands, his nose not an inch above the ground, and struggled mightily to straighten his arms once more. His sprint had decayed into a stagger. He had not the breath for anything more, and even if he had, his legs would have been too weak to bear the exertion.

Zelda appeared every bit as uncomfortable as he. Her face bore an almost-permanent grimace, and her leaps had turned to stunted hops. Still her pace was unflagging.

Nabooru alone seemed unbothered by the activity. Each jump sent her soaring into the air, graceful as a figure skater. Her control was so great that on the sprints she appeared not to slow down at all, stopping instantly before she collided with the wall, and dropping without pause into the strange, exhausting exercise.

Even more impressive was that she did it all with the blade at her side. She seemed almost heedless of it, but never did it cut her, or interfere with her movement.

At last they stopped. Link collapsed onto his back.

"You do this every day?" he groaned.

"Not done yet," Nabooru said, shoving a bottle of water into his hands. "Time for core."

How long they spent working out, he could not say. He could not force his mind to go beyond the present moment. There was no afternoon, or morning, or school, or quest. He knew only his exhaustion, and the hope that soon it would end.

End it did, at last, but Nabooru would not let him rest.

"Keep your head above your heart," she growled, yanking him to his feet. "Walk it off, and do not slouch. Hands behind your head. Breathe."

"Fun, right?" Zelda said, grinning.

Link scoffed, but even so he returned again on Sunday, and again the weekend after that. He could not shake Nabooru's words from his mind. _As but an annoying wind next to a sandstorm that consumes all. Can you stand up to it, boy?_ He would not let such a simple workout, that even Zelda could do, defeat him. He could not, if there was to be any hope for Hyrule.

In other ways, he trained himself as well. There were more kinds of strength than mere physical, he reasoned, and so he set out to hone his will. He made tasks for himself, meaningless of themselves, but requiring the strictest of discipline. On one day, he might keep the thumb and forefinger of his right hand joined, from the moment he finished breakfast, until it was time to prepare dinner. On another, he might smile at everyone he saw.

He failed more often than not, but he kept at his practice, and he improved.

He worked, and the world continued to turn. The trees changed to gold, chill breezes awoke to greet him in the mornings, and everywhere the seemingly eternal peace of Hyrule continued to reign.

The morning of his Algebra mid-term, he sat straight at his desk, feet deliberately planted beside each other. Today, his goal was to avoid fidgeting.

"Anything planned for the four-day?" he asked Aghreal.

"Study," she grunted.

"All four days? But you're already awesome at everything."

"Look, you obviously want something. Spit it out."

Turning to face her, he unconsciously crossed his legs. He bit back a sigh and added yet another tally to the notebook that sat flipped open on his desk.

"Okay, I have to ask," Aghreal said. "You keep messing with that notebook. Is it some weird Hylian thing I don't know about?"

"No, just me," he said. "I'm building discipline." As he said it, he began to realize just how ridiculous it sounded. He stared down at his notebook self-consciously. "Every time I do something I'm trying not to… um… like crossing my legs—for today, I mean—I mark it down."

Aghreal leaned in, a rare smirk playing at her eyes. She spoke with a low voice: "If you're wanting to build discipline, trying doing it with something useful. Like looking at people when you talk to them."

She winked.

A grin came unbidden to his face, and he let out a soft chuckle. Aghreal was silent, but her smile broadened to show teeth, and her shoulders tremored slightly.

"Noted," he said, not taking his gaze from her.

"Now then, you were taking forever to come to some point?" she prompted.

"Right. Well, Zelda's organizing a camping trip, and I thought you might like to come along."

She paused, as though considering, then broke into a full laugh.

"My sisters would think that disastrous, and deride you just for asking. But I think I feel more than a little rebellious. Where and when?"

Link shared the details, and then it was time for the test. His studying had well prepared him. Though he did not breeze through it as easily as Aghreal, he never once found himself stumped beyond comfort, and only rarely was he unsure of an answer. He finished minutes before the bell, and turned the paper in with a smile. Only a few times before had he felt so confident about a math test.

He gave Aghreal a thumbs-up as he returned to his seat. Her eyes flickered to him, then returned to the apparently-fascinating surface of her desk.

After class, Mike caught his arm before he could leave.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?"

Link said nothing, waiting for the other boy to explain himself.

"She's dangerous," he said. "Why do you think not even the other Gerudo want to hang around her? You can't possibly think there's a future with her."

"You do not get to choose my friends," Link said, and left for Old Hylian.

That Friday was the first of their mid-semester four-day weekend. Link spent much of it at the castle, first working out with Zelda and Nabooru, then joining Desi to work on homework.

"Zelda was never this responsible before you came along," Desi grumbled. "Stop corrupting her."

"You'll thank me Monday evening," Link said, not looking up from his Chemistry book.

Desi stuck her tongue out.

Shortly after lunch, they all three left with Nabooru to Hyrule Park. They would not be camping there, Zelda explained, but it was an easier meeting place than the castle.

Slowly, the other campers trickled in. They hopped out of their vehicles, loaded their backpacks into the large van Nabooru had brought out for the occasion, and began chattering eagerly. He recognized a number from his classes, but there were just as many that were strange to him. It was not until Aghreal arrived, hiking to the site with her bag strapped high on her back, that he realized there were no other boys present.

He groaned.

"Nice planning," Aghreal said as she passed him. Though she usually wore jeans and blouse, blending in somewhat with the Hylians as the other Gerudo did, today her attire was more similar to the traditional garb that Nabooru frequently wore. There was no gem on her head, nor weapon at her side, but her pants held the same flowing style, and even in the brisk autumn air, she wore no shirt. Link thought he saw Nabooru nod in approval.

The van was almost bursting once everyone arrived. Link climbed in, and, squished between Aghreal and Desi, tried not to think too hard about the long ride ahead.

"Cheer up; at least you get your own tent," Aghreal said.

Link soon saw the wisdom in her words. It was not long before someone suggested singing, and of the eleven of them packed in the van, there were perhaps two who could carry a tune. The thought of curling up on the hard, cold ground in a tent all to himself soon seemed as welcoming as a down comforter and a mug of hot chocolate.

By the time they arrived and all unloaded, everyone was ready for dinner. Eager to do things 'rugged,' Zelda led them all in the task of building a fire pit. Nabooru looked on from the side, eyes twinkling. When Zelda started to scowl at the collection of kindling they had collection, Nabooru started to step in, but Zelda waved her aside.

"I can do this," she said.

Moments later, the flame sprang to life, and they all crowded around its gentle warmth. Nabooru passed out skewers and weiners. Link was half-tempted to eat his cold, but then decided he may as well play along and do his right.

It could certainly be no worse than Anju's cooking, in any case.

After dinner, the girls began to tell ghost stories. They ruined any tension they might have built with their incessant giggling, and he soon stepped away to clear his head.

Aghreal had already retreated, standing several paces from the fire. Link joined her.

"Aren't you cold?" he asked, rubbing at his arms.

"Of course, but this is far more pleasant than their chatter. It's a wonder you Hylians are able to mate for life."

"It doesn't seem to be bothering you, is what I meant," he said, ignoring the jab. She stood still, apart from the motions of her head, not as one bracing herself against the cold, but more as a warrior asserting her territory. If he looked close, he could see her arm hairs standing on end, but that was the only sign she gave that she felt the weather.

"When I told you I spent nine hours a day studying Algebra over the summer, you didn't even blink, and this is what impresses you?" She turned her gaze back to the fire. "Physical discomfort is easy to deal with, if your mind is fresh. All Gerudo can do it."

"Teach me how, then," Link said.

She whipped her head around.

"Better than staring at the fire all night."

Her scowl broke into a grin.

"You're lucky I feel so rebellious," she said. "Raelin would not be pleased with this." With a deft motion she grabbed his wrists, prying his arms apart and throwing them down to his side.

"First, relax. Let it in. It is not so cold as you think."

He did his best to let his arms dangle by his sides, but the night air nipped at him, and he scrunched up his shoulders and fingers, trying to make himself as tight as possible.

Aghreal sighed. "Typical Hylian. You all say we work too hard, but you don't even know how to relax." She pressed his shoulders down. "Let it- Oh, you're making this difficult, aren't you? Like a child."

She passed behind him and began massaging his shoulders and upper back.

"Relax," she insisted. Gradually, he opened up, and his shoulders unclenched, as her hands worked their way around in circles.

"Hands too. Don't make me loosen them for you. Take some pride."

With a deep breath, he forced his fingers to uncurl. A cold breeze blew through them, and he shuddered, but he kept his muscles loose.

"Like a child," Aghreal repeated. "Feel the air. Let it in. Feel what it is, not what you fear it is."

He did as she instructed. Now that he actually focused on the sensations, rather than shying away from them, he found that it indeed was not as bad as he thought. The prickle on his skin still gave him discomfort, but it no longer demanded action. He thought perhaps that the tension he had held in his muscles contributed more to his discomfort than had the cold itself.

"Let's sit down," she said. They found a log long enough for both of them. It was cold and somewhat damp, but he kept Aghreal's words in mind and found it bearable.

"I will teach you to find your rock. Once there, nothing can unseat you."

His thoughts flashed back to his first training session with Zelda. Nabooru had floored the Princess. _You have not the luxury of anger, however righteous. Find the rock_, she had said. He did not interrupt.

"A boulder in the desert is always there," Aghreal began. "The sun may grow so hot that even camels fall in exhaustion, the winds so fierce that cacti tumble and blow away, but the boulder remains.

"But just because it's there, doesn't mean you can see it. There are storms so fierce that it is dangerous to open your eyes. Even if you could open them without blinking, you could be inches from the boulder and see only the sheet of sand blowing across your face. Do you understand?"

Link shook his head.

"How do Hylians not learn this?" she grumbled. Then she sighed, and her placid demeanor returned.

"Look, the sandstorm is your thoughts. They scramble around, and prevent you from seeing what you really think. Who you really are."

"The rock?" Link asked.

"Yes. And once you have revealed your rock, no wind may discomfort you, the sun will not scorch, and even the Goddess of the Desert would have a hard time moving you, if you set your will against hers.

"See the sandstorm for what it is, and it will fade."

She looked at him expectantly.

"Well, go on," she said.

"Now?"

She closed her eyes for a moment before responding.

"Yes. Close your eyes, see your thoughts fall away, and cling to the rock at the center of it all."

Link shut his eyes. It felt odd, just sitting there, but it was not for nothing that he had done his discipline-building exercises. He forced himself to accept it, to let in the oddness, just as he had let in the cold moments before.

He turned his mind inward, to the thoughts Aghreal claimed were buffeting him. At first he thought a sandstorm a poor analogy, but as he sat he found his thoughts chasing each other across his mind, building speed despite his best efforts to control them.

His shoulders dropped, and muscles in his face he had not felt ever before relaxed. Sitting on the log, his body was calmer than it ever had been. But within, he had grown quite frantic, as though lost in a waking dream.

His legs twitched with a desire to run. His back grew stiff from the lack of support. Sniggers drifted over to him from the fire pit. He dismissed everything and turned his eye back inwards.

At last he found it. The rock, at the heart of all things. The unyielding boulder. His only movement was the breath creeping in and out of him. Here and there a stray thought would intrude on his tranquility, but it was only as a gentle breeze, pleasant while it lasted and gone in a heartbeat. There was not even excitement at finding the rock to disturb him.

"Good job," Aghreal whispered, her voice a gentle breeze of a different sort. He soon felt her stir, and leave him. For his part, he remained long into the night, thinking on what he had learned.


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay. I decided to rewrite from scratch. Then I decided not to.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Link woke to the sound of his tent's door unzipping, and a the night air cutting into his sleeping bag. He groaned as the thin silhouette he knew to belong to Zelda stepped inside.

"You know, if I ever did this to you, Nabooru would have me screaming until morning or something," he grumbled.

Zelda let out a muted giggle. "Come on," she whispered. "This isn't _really_ a camping trip. You dressed?"

The proper reply, he felt, would involve a string of words that would have earned him quite a scolding from Miss Rebecca. Instead, he muttered something he hoped sounded vaguely like 'yes' and forced himself out of his comfy sleeping bag.

"Get your shoes on; I'll wait outside." She patted him on the knee and slipped out as silently as she had entered.

Link took a moment to massage his head and reflect that this manner of nonsense had never happened at the orphanage. But the night would not get warmer for waiting, and Zelda would certainly not let him fall back asleep, and so he hauled himself up and pulled on his sneakers.

He rummaged through the limited supplies he had brought and picked out a flashlight, a bottle of water, and a pair of snack bars. If their previous adventures had been any indication, Zelda would not be properly equipped. He grabbed another water bottle just in case and joined the girl outside the tent.

She had, at least, thought to change from her night clothes into a pair of jeans and a windbreaker—much more suitable for a hike.

"That was fast," she said, tying her hair back into a ponytail. "C'mon, I don't know how long this will take."

She strode into the woods, and Link hurried to keep up. Even with his light, he couldn't see well, and he worried a misstep would send him tumbling to the ground. As he ran down the trail, however, his feet seemed to land nimbly in all the right places, all on their own.

"Where are we going?" he asked once they were far enough away that their voices would not carry to the camp.

"There is a secret that has been passed down through our family," she said, not breaking stride. "Many secrets. But this is a secret to everyone, even my father. My mother spoke it to me when I was five, and made me promise to tell only the Hero, or my daughter, if no Hero appeared."

She stopped, suddenly, and tiny hands shot out to take him by the shoulders.

"I cannot make you promise to be the Hero, but you must swear that you will not even hint at this to anyone."

Link nodded. There was no hesitation. He'd played along with her plot this far, no sense in turning back now.

She held him there, and studied him for a long moment before relaxing. Then she resumed her brisk walk.

"The secret is that magic has not vanished wholly from Hyrule. That there remains a sacred grove, guarded by an ancient sage. That it is hidden in this very forest. That only the Princess and Hero together may find it."

"What will happen there?" Link asked.

"Something important, I hope."

He knew that if they found this ancient sage, his fate would be sealed. There could be no turning back, not if magic truly still lived, and a great sage waited to send him on the first leg of his quest. He almost stopped, there. He almost plunged back through the forest to his abandoned tent. Zelda would have let him, he was certain.

But again he asked, what if she was right, and he turned away?

The answer was unthinkable.

Ahead, Zelda gasped. Link hurried to her side, almost on instinct. The princess stood, rubbing her head and muttering to herself.

"Zelda…?"

"It's nothing," she said, looking up and forcing a smile. "Just… something feels weird. Feels off." Her eyes unfocused and cast downward. Link had never seen the girl look so dull.

"Are you sure-"

"Yes!' she snapped. Then again, more quietly: "Yes. Sorry. I feel… like we should hurry. Let's go."

He knew she was lying, but followed anyway. What else could he do? He couldn't force the truth from her, certainly. He could only hope that whatever troubled her was nothing serious.

Then she stumbled. Her arms flew out, and she fell to the ground with a cry. She started to push herself to her feet, but Link placed a hand on her shoulder and sat down beside her. He couldn't think what to say, so he looked at her, and hoped it was question enough.

She glared at him at first, but then relented.

"I have a headache." She kept her eyes toward the ground, as if she were embarrassed to admit it. "Ever since we started walking. I feel like there's something _scraping_ at the inside of my head." She winced. Her voice broke. "It hurts."

He put his arm fully around her shoulder. "Let's go back. Get away from-"

"No! We can't turn away. Don't you see? It will always be like this. It's the magic, I just know it! Something about the magic is reacting, or- or something. I'll have to bear it if we want to see the sage."

"We should wait until you're rested, at least. When it's light, and we can move faster."

She shook him off and staggered to her feet.

"Only if you can drag me back," she said, wearing the imitation of a smile. She ploughed ahead, and Link stayed close behind her, ready to catch her. Had he thought that the cause of her headaches might be a certain _thing_, rather than magic, had thought to keep alert for hidden dangers in the shelter of the surrounding brush, he might have seen the spiders before they attacked.

A heavy weight collided with him, sending him sprawling to the ground. Above him, Zelda screamed, a thin howl that pierced through the night and echoed inside his skull. Adrenaline filled him, and the wail faded to the background, along with his pain, and all extraneous sensation.

He shone his light around to see what had attacked him. He made out a small, ugly-shaped mass just as it leaped at him again. He threw himself flat against the ground, just in time for the _thing_ to sail over him, assaulting him with its foul stench as it did so.

He rolled to his feet. From the click-shuffling sound he heard, there was at least one more of the beasts.

"Kill it! Kill it!" Zelda was screaming, but he had no weapons, and the beasts were _fast_. He aimed a hesitant kick at one. It latched onto its foot, clawing, upsetting his balance. He crashed to the ground, then flailed with his other foot until it connected, sending the thing scampering away. The other one lunged, countless legs splayed over his face, and Link threw it off.

Behind him, Zelda knelt on the ground, head clasped in her hands, screams and sobs inter-mingled with broken demands to kill the monstrosities. They turned, slowly, as if noticing her for the first time.

They advanced. Link was faster. He jumped, coming down hard on the legs of the lead creature, grinding his heel into the fragile joints as he landed. Bending down, the grabbed the other by the legs, hardly noticing the razor-like hair that cut into his palm, and flung it away to deal with the first.

It scrambled in a pathetic circle, clicking and whining as it went. Link raised his foot and brought it down. Hard. Again and again.

The other monster screamed forward, determined to avenge its comrade. If he dodged, Zelda would be vulnerable, and so instead he stepped forward.

The thing's many legs embraced him, and pincers sunk deep into his chest. The pain dropped him to the ground. He tried to tear it off, but his hand was slippery with blood, and found no purchase. He smashed it against the creature's hard back, to no effect.

_Brittle legs_, he remembered. His hand, already wounded, slammed into joints, bent others backward, harming the monster in any way he could think until at last it scampered off. When Link rose, he gave it the same fate as his brother.

Exhaustion took him, and he collapsed. Zelda lay close by. She shook, still, but the screaming had stopped.

"It's over," she whispered. "No pain."

Link grunted. She may have been fine, but it had bit into his chest, and he soon realized the agony of his bleeding hand.

Zelda rolled over and hugged him, her breath coming out in ragged gasps.

"I knew you could be a hero," she said.

Link made no response. It took all his power to stifle the scream that begged to erupt.

They might have lain like that all night, had a glow the shade of amber twilight not risen in the heart of the forest.

"It's hours 'til dawn," Zelda breathed. "This must be-"

At that moment, a fountain of light erupted them, whiting out their vision in its brilliance. When they could see again, a moss-covered temple of limestone stood before them, as ancient as the forest itself. Decayed pillars supported it, as green as the trees themselves. It seemed to grow with an eerie light, a light that _breathed_ and knew its fate.

A man stood on the steps, aged beyond belief. But though his white beard descended to his waist, and his skin was wrinkled as a prune, he strode forward with a commanding vigor.

"I have waited long ages for you, my children."

Link grunted as Zelda pushed herself off him. She took a hesitant step forward, then knelt before the ancient Sage. The boy did his utmost to mimic her, clutching his chest.

"Welcome to the Forest Temple, where once the Sages prayed before even the unification of Hyrule. My name is Sahasrahla."

* * *

**A/N: **I'm doing some donation matching. Check out my profile for details.


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Thanks to XandraFox for catching my dumb mistakes before you had to see them.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

It took both the old man and Zelda to help Link into the Temple. Each breath brought with it a flash of pain, and a blood had begun to soak through his shirt.

"No fear, no fear," Sahasrahla said. "I've treated worse, in my time. You don't get to live as old as I have without picking up a thing or two about medicine, heh."

Inside the temple rested a flat alter, the only object in the expansive room. Pale moonlight

illuminated it. With a grunt, the sage heaved him atop it.

"Now, where did I place that nightfeather root? Should be here somewhere…" He wandered away, picking through his over-sized red robes as he muttered to himself.

Zelda took Link's hand. "You okay?"

He shook his head. He hadn't thought it that bad at first, in the heat of the battle. Now the

wound in his chest burned through him, absorbing all his attention. He clamped his teeth hard to keep from crying out.

When Sahasrahla returned, he held a bottle of red liquid. A thin but firm hand took Link by the jaw, and he poured the liquid mercilessly down his throat. It was so viscous it seemed to _crawl_ down, and stung the whole way. Link lurched forward, but the Sage held him down.

"Easy, boy," he said. "Healing's rough work, so it is."

Link thrashed, and screamed, and prayed for an end.

"Pull his shirt up, girl."

"Wha-"

"Quickly, now. Wouldn't want him to heal around the fabric. Nasty business, that."

Her hands were cold, and the stone surface colder. She gasped as the shirt cleared his upper chest to pool around his neck.

"It's… vanishing. Closing!."

Sahasrahla laughed. "What part of magic don't you understand, girl?"

Then all he felt was pain.

Some time later, a dim sensation of a wet rag on his chest pierced the haze. He muttered something unintelligible.

"Easy, boy. Poison's not easy to purge, especially that near the heart. Can you sit?"

Link blinked his eyes open and tried to prop himself up. It felt like taking a hammer to the ribs, but he managed.

"Normally this would go without saying, but if you're anything like your predecessors, at least try not to do anything stupid or active in the near future."

He exhaled slowly and slid to his feet. His legs trembled, but held.

"And with that unpleasantness behind us, let us head to the courtyard. We have much to discuss.

* * *

Though moonlight still shone upon the altar within the temple, the courtyard was bathed in sunlight warmer than Link had felt in weeks. Rather than squirm beneath the blood and sweat that drench his shirt, he removed it entirely and found himself quite comfortable. Zelda raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Sahasrahla sat them on cushy armchairs that did not, at least, appear ancient, then brought them out tea in porcelain cups, the sort you might find on display in ancient houses from before the Reunification. He accepted it gratefully. The tea did for his spirit what the vile potion had done for his body. He felt refreshed, as though he had just woken from a mid-afternoon nap. He smiled.

"Now," Sahasrahla said, settling himself into his chair. "I know why you're here, _you _know why you're here, but do you know why I'm here?"

"To guard the temple, surely," Zelda said, somehow managing to simultaneously cross her legs and appear to lean in toward the old Sage. She even made it look comfortable. With her tea cup artfully poised and a gentle, polite smile on her face, he began to see her as the princess she actually was.

Sahasrahla was a good deal less composed. He slouched, arms draped carelessly over the armrests, and slurped at his tea. Link found a happy medium between the two, behaving in a manner Miss Rebecca might have called 'civilized.' Or as civilized as he could be shirtless and plagued by an aching chest.

The sage snorted. "If I could do anything to guard this hunk of rock, do you think your boy would've had to fight off those Skulltullas?"

Link twitched, almost jumped in his chair. Since the attack, he had not had much time to think, had not even bothered to wonder where the spider-creatures had come from. Now they were safe, had ample time to ponder the mystery over tea, and Link did not like the implications.

Zelda's forehead creased, and her lips pursed, as though she were in careful thought.

"See, this?" Sahasrahla said. "This is exactly why I stopped dealing with princesses. Spit it out girl, what's on your mind?"

"What were they?" she said.

"Creatures of Ganondorf, sent to prey upon my power. Would have done a good job of it, too, if you lot hadn't shown up when you did.

"He's dead!" Link blurted. "He's been dead, for centuries!"

"There's a difference between all-dead and mostly-dead, boy. If he's all dead, there's just about one thing you can do with him." He shifted his gaze expectantly between the two children. Link sat quietly, hoping Zelda would know what he was looking for. When she didn't reply either, the sage's shoulders fell.

"If an old geezer who's been living alone in the forest for a thousand years knows more about movies than you do, that's just pathetic," he grumbled. "Have you really- never mind. Ganondorf. He ain't dead. Never was. Twisted soul like his, I reckon he _can't_ die."

"So the legends are true," Zelda said. Her voice had the same somber coldness it had when she had first entered his room and begged his aid. Link could not understand her serenity. He had just learned that the most infamous part of Hyrule's history still lived, and had sent his minions into Hyrule already.

And Link was supposed to somehow _fight_ him.

"These… Skulltulluas, you called them? They were… eating our magic?" Zelda said.

"A crude interpretation, but aye, you could say that. Due to your heritage, you may have experienced some mild discomfort from it." He smiled coldly, without humor. "They were on the verge of eradicating mine completely, and erasing this forest haven forever. With their death, I believe things will soon mend. Not, perhaps, to their full extent, but enough. Enough."

Zelda's smile seemed less cold, and even Link managed to relax some. How many other 15-year-old boys in Hyrule could say they'd thwarted an evil plan.

"Think, fools!" Sahasrahla snapped, glaring between both of them. "What happens now? What is inevitable? Actions have consequences, princess, and your forbears ignored this, to their doom. Think, by the Goddess, and earn that title you bear so carelessly."

The rapid change, the brute hostility startled Link. Suddenly the world felt so much more concrete. The fuzzy happiness from the tea vanished, and he was acutely aware of the cycle of his breath, the sweat beading on Sahasrahla's brow, the bitter breeze.

He forced himself to think, but as usual Zelda was one step ahead.

"If he has half the power as the stories say, he would be keeping track of his creatures."

The sage nodded.

"He knows they are dead."

Another nod.

"He knows no normal accident would have killed them."

Sahasrahla leaned forward, a dangerous glint in his eye. His lips curled back to reveal sharp teeth, barred in a feral smile.

"And then?"

"He knows we know of him. He will strike before we can prepare."

She sprung to her feet. "I must tell father."

"Sit down, girl," Sahasrahla barked. "This night, there is no safer place for you than here. If you seek to return before the initial assault has burned out, you will die, or worse. Link will die, or worse. And all of Hyrule will fall under the rule of the evil king.

"The first time this occurred, the Goddesses flooded the world in water. The second, they flooded it in sand. What do you imagine will happen this time?"

"This place would be destroyed if we hadn't killed the Skulltullas, you said it yourself. And you call this temple safe?"

"Why do you think he sent only two Skulltullas? Why do you think he did not eradicate this place the instant he learned of it? This is a temple of the Goddesses, and other powers, bound to this earth by ancient oath. It actively resists him, even now, even weakened. Do not let fear drive you to foolishness, girl. Even his power has limits, and it will be needed elsewhere if his strike is to work at all.

"You will remain here this night, as your country burns.

"You will wait, and you will hide, like a spineless coward aye, but also like a smart girl who enjoys living.

"We will speak of legends, of power, and of relics deemed lost.

"And when the storm passes, and the fury of Ganondorf's onslaught has dimmed, you two will be the only hope for Hyrule."

Princess and Sage glared at each other in a contest of wills. Link did not know where she got the strength. Too much was happening, and too fast. He could barely follow their dialogue, and only had the vaguest of notions as to why Ganondorf would choose now to attack. He'd thought he wouldn't have to fight until he was an adult! What could a kid do against… against _that_?

He suddenly felt so terribly small. He wanted to go hug Miss Rebecca and cry into her arms as he had so frequently his first years in the orphanage. He wanted to awake from the overwhelming nightmare and just go back to school, and fail math, and read books of little consequence.

But he couldn't. If he didn't fight Ganondorf, Hyrule would fall. Zelda would die. Aghreal would live under his harsh reign. Aghreal, and Fado, and Anju, and Miss Rebecca, and even Kafei.

_Find the rock_ Aghreal had told him, just hours before. He closed his eyes. The whirlwind of fear that swirled about him faded. Slowly, ever so slowly, he captured the eye of that storm, and held it. His fears raged and pried at his defenses, and threatened to rend him apart, but deep within the eye, they were powerless against him. He sweated, and shivered. His heart pounded, his breath came tight. But his mind was clear.

The most important thing in the world, right now, was hearing what Sahasrahla had to say.

He commanded his body to rise, and to place a hand on Zelda's shoulder.

It obeyed.

"He's right." His voice trembled. Zelda shot him a dismal look, a look that said _what do you know of these things_, and that added to the whirlwind of fear, but he commanded his body to stand fast.

"You know he's right."

He had defeated two Skulltullas, had saved the Forest Temple from annihilation. He had learned algebra, and worked out with Nabooru. He could hold a damn conversation.

Zelda faltered and bit her lip. Her shoulders began to shake.

"Are you certain?" she choked.

Sahasrahla nodded.

"I have had long to study his ways and guess his mind. If I am wrong, there are none in this land who would be _less_ wrong, save the Prince of Thieves himself."

She half-fell, half-lowered herself to her knees.

"I thought I was working ahead. I thought, for once in history, we had the advantage.

"Do not speak so harshly, girl. It is thanks to you the situation is not completely hopeless. You have had fifteen years to learn the lessons of the past, less if you don't count the years you were too stupid to guide food into your mouth. Ganondorf has had millennia.

"I will brew some more tea."

* * *

The three sat in a circle. Sahasrahla had resumed his carefree pretense, curling up in his chair like a schoolgirl reading a titillating book. Zelda slumped in her chair, sipping tea with a still-trembling hand. Link sat as close beside her as he could position the over-sized armchair, clasping her left hand in his right. He held his spine unnaturally straight, unwilling to waver lest he invite the fear back in.

"Ever hear why the Goddesses buried us in sand and dropped us smack in the middle of a desert?" Sahasrahla asked.

Zelda shook her head.

"It's cause we were killing the world already," he said. "Built too fast, you did, and the magical creatures, the non-Hylians, they paid for it. Almost died. So when Ganondorf took over, _again_, the Goddesses solved two problems at once.

"'Let 'em build,' they said, and carried all the magical beings away far out through inhospitable wastes, where no one would ever be crazy enough to go find 'em and mess 'em up again.

"But of course when you lot get in trouble, _again_, you'll have to have someone smart about magic a lot closer than that, yeah? So they plopped me here, and here I've been for the past several centuries. You know how many bricks are in this building? I do. Two million, five hundred and three thousand, and thirteen. I counted. Twice."

He sipped at his tea, scowling "So now your obvious next step is…?"

It was not hard to see.

"Get the Master Sword from you."

Sahasrahla sputtered. "Wha-? Have you been paying attention at all? Why would I go tell you about the this 'magic-place' if all you had to do was pick up a sword here and go lay the smack-down on the evil sorcerer? No, I don't have the Master Sword. I'm here for information. In-for-ma-tion," he repeated, drawing out each syllable. "Got it?"

Link nodded. "So I find a helicopter or something, and go- What's wrong with that?"

Sahasrahla was looking at him with narrowed eyes, the same look Aghreal would give him when he tried to make subtraction associative, or something similarly dumb.

"You, sir, are not planning any invasions in the near future. I hate to say it, but let's let your lady-friend do think thinking here, hm?"

Link idly noted that normally the jibe would have flustered him. Now he had more important things to worry about.

"Helicopters are obvious," Zelda said. "Even if you did somehow manage to get one, the best-case scenario is the Hylian military tracks you down to figure out what you're doing deep in the desert with a helicopter while Ganondorf's attacking. It's suspicious."

"And if the military's out there, no way is the Great Fairy letting you find her people," Sahasrahla finished.

"So I'm driving-"

"- in whose car?" Sahasrahla said.

"- _walking_ through the desert until I somehow find the Master Sword. Couldn't we just shoot him or something?"

"He has layered on dark rituals so thick as to be impenetrable. Weapons may harm him still, but only the Master Sword can shatter the enchantments."

"How am I to find it?"

Sahasrahla shrugged.

"It's north-ish. And a little to the left. These things have a way of working out."

Link stared at him in disbelief.

Sahasrahla shrugged again. "Hey, this happened, right?"

Link had to concede the point.

"And my role in all this?" Zelda asked.

"Do… whatever it is you princesses do. Be safe. Don't do anything stupid. Don't let _him_ do anything stupid. And for the love of all that is holy, don't do what I know you're _already_ planning to do and follow the idiot into the desert. If you both get killed, we're all right screwed, and if he can't hack it on his own, we are in any case doomed.

She wrinkled her nose in annoyance, but said nothing.

"Damn princesses are all the same," Sahasrahla muttered. "Am I the only one who thinks any more?"

Louder, he said, "Get some sleep. Time runs a bit… slow here, but I reckon you'll still wish you'd slept more once you leave here and your caretaker can find you again."

He patted them each on the hand and rose.

"Wish I could say it was good to meet you, but damned if I won't be glad to have y'all out of my hair and this business over with. Have fun storming the castle and all that."

He left, and that was the last either saw of Sahasrahla, the one remaining Sage from the mists of history.

* * *

**A/N: **A universe without _some_ version of _The Princess Bride_ is a universe too dismal to play in.


	12. Interlude

**Interlude**

Several days prior, Nabooru reclined on one of _Cuccos and Coffee_'s leather sofas. Her drink was black. Strong. She relished the bitterness as she relished the scalding desert that was her home, and the tough love of the true Gerudo.

Straight black coffee—particularly _Hylian_ coffee—hardly compared at all, but it was the closest she ever got to her… preferred environment.

Across from her sat Aveil, bolt-upright, every muscle knotted, tensed. Nabooru could see her struggle not to fidget under the oppressive Hylian clothing: a T-shirt displaying a blue flower, and tight jeans belted at her waist. Nabooru reflected that it looked rather cute on her. Perhaps she had been living among the Hylians for too long.

"They say you have… doubts," Nabooru prompted.

The girl's eyes bulged. She sucked in her lips, wetting them. Aveil may have been a proud Captain of the Gerudo back home, but was clearly over her head in this environment. Nabooru could understand. But now was not the time for excessive pity.

"Aveil, I am not unreasonable. Your king is not unreasonable. It is good you chose to voice your concerns, rather than doing something foolish about it. But if you don't tell me why, I can't help you."

The silence continued. As she waited for Aveil's response, the store's resident cat sprang onto the sofa and sprawled out on Nabooru's lap. An orange and white tabby, Tic Tac looked as though she had lived perhaps one summer too many, but nevertheless purred contentedly as she shared Nabooru's warmth.

Nabooru could palpably feel Aveil's discomfort rise at the action. Good. She pretended not to notice this, and stroked the side of the cat's face as she waited.

"I do not believe this course of action is right," Aveil said, at last. Her words came slowly, stilted. As they should. Such an utterance could be considered treason. Had the girl not had her excellent record and high position, it likely would have been.

"We are in Hyrule; you will speak Hylian."

Aveil repeated herself. Her accent was heavy, her cadence slow, but she spoke well enough to be understood, at least.

"Yes, I gathered that much," Nabooru said, once Aveil finished talking. She stroked the cat, and waited.

Their tense silence was interrupted by a waiter, wearing a green apron and a stupid smile.

"Good day, ladies. Can I get you anything to eat?"

Nabooru looked at him, then took a slow sip of her coffee.

"I will have the Cucco a la King and a chef salad. Aveil will take a _dry_ tuna sandwich, and a glass of tea. Earl grey, hot."

The waiter scribbled something and scampered away. Nabooru returned her attention to the captain.

"You were saying?"

Aveil sighed. "Disturbing these people… rash," she said. "They allow more of us to… to _travel_ here each cycle. And here, we live great. On top. Soon all Gerudo live here, desert empty. Why change this?"

"A reasonable qualm," Nabooru said, nodding. "One might even say noble."

"These Hylians are foolish, yes," Aveil continued. Now that she had started talking, the words flowed more smoothly. "But foolishness not evilness. Would you beat a child, it didn't know to-" she made a searching motion with her hands. "-to _sacred_ the Temple?"

"The mother, perhaps," Nabooru said with a humorless grin.

"But Hylians try. They try helping us."

They fell silent again as the waiter emerged with their food. They stared at him as he set the plates and cup on the table, and retreated. To his credit, he only squirmed a little bit, at the very start.

Nabooru picked up her fork and handed it to Aveil. "Do you know what this is?" she asked.

Aveil turned it in her hands, pondering. "Food-tool," she declared.

"This is called a _fork_," Nabooru said, taking it back. "How do you suppose it is made?"

Aveil shrugged. "Like weapons. By hammer-woman."

Nabooru deftly twirled the utensil in her fingers, and stabbed it into her meal. At the sound the cat raised her head and began to sit up. Nabooru eased her back down with a firm hand on her neck.

"What if I told you that a crew of five Hylians makes thousands of these each day?"

"Not possible." Aveil shook her head.

"Hardly. The Hylians have constructed machines just for this. Giant machines, larger than this building. The Hylians feed the machines metal, and they pound it and cut it and shape it, and spit out these forks, all in a matter of minutes. Just so they can eat without dirtying themselves. Ridiculous, no?"

So saying, she took a bite and savored the rich flavor. Aveil grabbed her sandwich and raised it hesitantly to her mouth. For a time, the only sound was the muted chatter around them.

"Tic Tac makes you uncomfortable, doesn't she?" Nabooru said. The cat had sat up again, her tail twitching back and forth.

Aveil set her sandwich carefully back on her plate. "Animal has name?" She almost hissed it.

Nabooru grinned and passed her over the table to Aveil. Her arms reached to accept the cat automatically, though she did not know what to do afterwards. She held her at a distance, and Tic Tac squirmed in her grip.

"Let her enjoy your lap," Nabooru commanded.

Aveil obeyed.

"She likes to be stroked on the side of her face, where her mouth comes together." But the cat was already nuzzling her face hard against Aveil's hand. She only had to oblige. She did so, with an unsteady hand and choppy motions.

"She'll like you better if you're willing to share," Nabooru said.

Aveil's head shot up, and she glared across the table at Nabooru.

"Do not mock me!" she spat in Gerudo. "You are high our king's counsel, but I am still a captain of our tribe, and I am due that respect. Do not mock me."

Nabooru crossed her arms and regarded Aveil coolly. "I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with that barbarian language," she said.

Aveil growled low in her throat.

"I did not bring you all this way to toy with you, Aveil. There is an important lesson for you to learn. Feed the cat."

"Absurd."

Nabooru nodded. "Even so, feed it. Feed _her_."

Aveil glanced around at the full diner. "The Hylians-"

"-will find it cute. Feed her."

A trembling hand plucked a chunk of tuna from the sandwich. Tic Tac sat up. Aveil hesitated.

"Do you know what will happen to the food you don't eat here, Aveil? The Hylians will dump it in a small box. Then they will take the small box and dump it in a larger box. Then they'll take the larger box, and dump everything in a compound in the middle of nowhere, and there it will decay, and the flies will feast."

Aveil's trembling increased. A tear escaped her eye.

"Feed her, Aveil."

She lowered the tuna, and Tic Tac nibbled it out of her fingers. If the Hylians saw, they did not react. No one came to chastise her for the waste. No one came to turn her food to more useful ends.

"This is how they treat their animals, Aveil. How do they treat you?"

She dropped thirty rupees on the table and strode out.


	13. Chapter 11

**A/N: **With this chapter, I'm afraid I'm going to have to bump the rating up to 'M' for language. I had at first hoped not to do this. I certainly agree that there are more constructive ways to express yourself than with profanity. But I have to be realistic with this, and if you throw a bunch of teenagers into a tense situation, things are going to get a bit... uncivil.

* * *

**Chapter 11**

For the entire drive to the campsite, Link had just wished that everyone would shut up. On the way back, a pensive silence hung over the van, made all the more heavy by the empty seat. As soon as Link and Zelda had returned to the camp in the morning, Nabooru had whisked the princess away in a small armored vehicle that was already waiting

"She is going to a safe location. That is all you need to know," she had said, before staring hard at Link. "If she has made any plots known to you, boy, you'd best act on them." And then they were gone.

A man who had come with the armored car remained behind. His square face was set in a constant-scowl, and every move of his was brisk, precise. Desi approached him, bleary-eyed.

"Mr. Smith? What's going on?"

He looked down slowly, glanced at each of the children in turn. His gaze lingered particularly long on Aghreal.

"Your parents can fill you in," he said. "Come on, they'll be worried."

They stared at Link all the way home. Most seemed like they were trying to be subtle, angling their heads only slightly his way, making a point of looking past him when he looked their way, and all the tricks high-schoolers use. But Link could tell. He could tell because he would have been doing the exact same thing. An odd coincidence indeed, to have stolen away with the princess the night before… well, before _something_ happened. No one yet had the courage to say anything to him, but he knew that would not last long.

Everyone's parents were already waiting at the rendezvous point, and the girls scattered to learn what had happened. All except Aghreal. She tugged on Link's arm as he left to go to Kafei, who stood somberly beside his car with a hand on the hood. He met Link's eyes and nodded. _Go ahead_, the nod said. Link turned back to Aghreal.

She yanked him close and spoke into his ear in a low voice.

"I am not blind. I am no fool. I will not ask you stupid questions that you will not know whether to answer. I will say only that I am here to help, if I can."

Link nodded vacantly as he struggled to figure out just what she thought she was talking about. He _hoped _that she thought that he and Zelda had been dating, that she was offering her condolences. But then it wouldn't make sense for her to say "I am here to help." Gerudo didn't _do_ relationships, and even if they did, what help could she offer?

No, she must have figured out that he was the Hero reborn, as Zelda had. And that meant… what? That _felt_ like something he ought to keep a secret, but he couldn't figure out why.

_Think_, he told himself. _What's the worst thing that could happen if I told everyone I was the Hero, right now?_

Everyone would laugh, for one. But that wasn't the _worst_ thing. Or if it was, that was hardly a good reason to keep things secret.

Zelda had been trying to keep it out of public knowledge. But that was before the attack. Now Ganondorf already knew the Hero was working against him.

No, all Ganondorf knew was that someone killed his skulltullas. But it had to be more significant than that, because why else-

"It looks like you are trying to think and failing," Aghreal said, cutting into his thoughts. "Advice: sleep first, then think." She smirked at him and patted him on the chest. "I'm guessing you didn't get much last night."

Link blushed and stammered out a protest, but she had already walked away. As he approached Kafei, he tried to regain control of his face, to little success.

"Learning about women, I see," the man said with an amused grin.

"_Kafei!_"

He chuckled and entered the car. While Link climbed into the passenger seat, Kafei brought the engine to life, but did not shift out of park.

"I assume… Zelda has told you a few things," Kafei began.

Link nodded.

"Would you be surprised to learn she left instructions for something like this?"

"Something like what, exactly?"

Kafei turned to look at Link, then back out the windshield. His fingers drummed against the steering wheel.

"Three hours ago, Gerudo raiders invaded Hyrule," he said. His voice was thin, like an old rag that had been laundered too many times. "They captured Kasuto. Our satellites… they've blocked our satellites somehow. No one knows what's happening inside."

"How's Anju?"

"Working. Working too hard."

Link closed his eyes. He hated to admit it, but this attack felt underwhelming. Inconsequential, almost. He had expected Ganondorf himself on his doorstep. Instead, the battle had fallen on over a hundred-thousand people, hundreds of miles away.

Kafei handed him a plain, sealed envelope. Link took it reflexively.

"Don't worry about it too much, alright?" Kafei said. "From what I could tell, even Zelda wasn't certain. This is the military's problem, and they're more than capable of dealing with some rogue Gerudo."

Link said nothing. Kafei had a point. On the other hand, if he waited for Ganondorf to barge into Castle Town, it would be too late to start preparing.

"Link, you listening?"

He nodded. "Right. Don't do anything stupid. Got it." Seemed to be a common theme lately.

"Glad to hear it. Now let's get you home for some proper rest."

* * *

_Dear Link,_

_If you are reading this, the time for being sentimental has passed. Therefore, I will be to_

_the point, or make an attempt, anyway. Once the words come, it's hard to shut them off sometimes._

_I've attached directions to Old Forest Campground. Go there with someone you trust. Or better, go alone. That might be a bit difficult, though, wouldn't it? Well, Kafei's already on our side, and knows a thing or two. Whenever he gets a holiday. It's not terribly urgent. Or maybe it will be. Despite the stories, I'm blind to the future, I'm afraid._

_There's a legend passed down by the Royal Fa… I suppose there's no point in being grandiose about this anymore. I'm pretty sure an ancient sage lives at that campsite, somewhere, and only you or I can find him. You may have to do a bit of walking around before you run into him. Make sure you have good shoes. Nabooru says when you get new boots, it helps to take a shower in them, then walk around 'til they're dry. Or tennis shoes would probably still work. I mean, it couldn't be more than a few miles._

_Sorry. Rambling. The sage there will have to guide you when I'm gone. Hopefully he's still there. And mostly sane. _

_I wish I could say that you could just let the military handle everything if you don't feel up to it. I wish I could tell you there was no reason for you accept this quest. But the histories are clear. The Hero always faces Ganondorf alone, in the end. I don't know why it is. The priests or sages may have some answer for you, if you wish to ask._

_It is not fair that you're being thrown into this… No, it's not fair that __I'm_ _throwing it at you. You have a hard road ahead, harder than most Hylians will ever face. And I hope that one day, you will forgive me._

_Good luck, my friend._

_Zelda_

* * *

Sunday afternoon, Link returned from the library to find a visitor waiting for him. Miss Rebecca sat in the lounge with Anju, sipping tea. Seeing her and Anju side-by-side, he couldn't help but realize the orphan-mother was less refined than he had believed. She slouched, ever so slightly, as she rested in the chair. She fidgeted. But she'd always be one of the most beautiful people in the world to him. Without hesitating, he walked up and gave her a tight hug.

"Link! Wow. I'd say you've really grown up, but that would probably just annoy you, huh?"

He chuckled politely. "It's good to see you again too, Miss Rebecca," he said.

"I'll leave you two alone for a bit," Anju said, patting Link on the shoulder. "There'll be cookies in fifteen minutes, if you're still here."

Link watched her leave, wondering if there was a polite way to warn Miss Rebecca about Anju's unique culinary abilities.

"I think you've figured out I'm not just here to see you," she said when Anju was gone.

Link nodded. This was about the attack, somehow. The timing would be too weird otherwise. He sat down, and tried not to leap to conclusions.

"Fado got adopted last week. A retired soldier named Rusl and his wife. Already had a son, and Fado just fit in there so perfectly. I've never seen her so happy before."

Link raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. Fado being any happier than normal was rather hard to imagine.

"Rusl's wife took her and the boy on vacation this weekend. To Kasuto."

Link bit his lip. He should be distraught. He should break down. That was what Miss Rebecca would expect, at least. It was simply the right way to _feel_. But, after the news of over a hundred thousand Hylians falling to the Gerudo attack, after having Zelda whisked away from them, he simply didn't have much despair _left_.

"You two were so close… I thought you should know. I am so sorry." As she had done so many times before, she pulled him into a comforting hug, and the faint smell of lilac tickled his nose. He thought he'd never get to smell that again.

For a moment, the memories overwhelmed him, but then he pushed away and stood up.

"We don't know anything about what happened at Kasuto, right?" he said.

"Link…"

"I know what you're thinking, Miss Rebecca, but I can't just let her go like that. There's still hope. She could just be a prisoner. She could be alright, in the end."

"Please, you're just hurting yourself more like this."

"Do you _want_ her to be dead?" he snapped.

She froze, hand over her heart, gaze dropping despairingly downward.

"I'm sorry, you didn't deserve that," Link said. "Please, Miss Rebecca, let me deal with this is my own way.

"You do know I care about you, about _all_ you you, right, Link?" Her face was a melange of smiles and tears.

"I know. You wouldn't have come, otherwise."

"It was good to see you again. I'm glad you're doing well."

They clasped hands, and she left. Link remained standing in the lounge. Now that she was gone, the full force of her news ambushed him. Everything seemed so fast and so distant all at once.

He willed his legs to stop shaking. These distractions would only shatter his ability to think. He had to focus on what lay before him, on the next.

Link collapsed on the sofa and looked down on the book he had just gotten from the library, still clasped in his hands.

_Hylian Expeditionary Force's Guide to Tactical Desert Survival_

* * *

Tuesday morning, school administration herded everyone into the auditorium for a presentation. Link squirmed in the surge of people, then scolded himself for the show of weakness. He was better than this. He had proven it.

Aghreal was easy to spot. In the throng of people, she was one of the few next to an empty seat. Her cascade of red hair made things even simpler. He took the open seat.

"You know, if you were smart, you'd be avoiding me right now," she muttered.

"Yeah, because I have _so_ much popularity to worry about losing." He rolled his

eyes.

"There's a difference between not being liked and having people pissed at you."

Link shrugged. She was his friend. That wasn't something he was going to apologize for.

At 8:00 precisely, the lights went on, and an old pepper-haired man limped onstage. He grimaced at every step, but stood resolute when he reached the microphone. Most strikingly, he wore the ceremonial green dress-tunic of the Hylian Army.

He stood there a long moment, looking thoughtfully at those assembled, and then spoke.

"My name is Captain Rusl. I served our country for most of my adult life, leaving only when age and injury caught up with me. Now, it has been seen proper to call me back to act as recruiter. I would hope I do not have to explain why." The corner of his mouth twitched up in a smile. No one laughed.

"Though I am a recruiter, I am still a man of integrity. I will not promise you glory, or rank, or even justice. I am here to tell you the truth, and to let you act as you believe best.

"The truth, then, is that we have been fighting for two days now, and our victory is not assured. The invaders have not yet advanced beyond Kasuto, but they have not yielded anything either.

"The Hylian military has not known true war for centuries, and we are hardly prepared. We are doing our best to learn and to adapt, and mistakes are being made in the process. If you choose to aid your country, it is possible you will become one of these mistakes. It is very likely that you will get wounded, or die. I can absolutely promise greater discomfort than you have ever known before.

"But if you ignore this plight, then death will come to all of Hyrule, not just you. The enemy is fearsome, and treacherous, and they are a legitimate threat.

"Because of this, the entrance age has been lowered to sixteen, with your guardians' permission.

"Now, are there any here would join in their country's defense, and take back the city of Kasuto?"

At first, no one moved, and Link had time to notice a few things. First, that he had never referred to the enemy as 'Gerudo.' Second, that he made no appeals to the recent loss of his wife and children.

Then Rusl's eyes widened. Link couldn't tell what he was looking at, at first. He heard rustling behind him. Following the attention of the crowd, he turned to see a Gerudo rising from her seat in the back. Her sisters grabbed at her, but she shook them off and made her way to the aisle.

"I was born in this country," she said, "as was my mother, and her mother. We have lived, we have grown, we have prospered." Her voice carried easily, even with no amplification. She was almost shouting, as she descended toward the stage.

"My mother has her own clothing brand, and is not seduced by its evils. My sisters and I will do better. And one day it will be forgotten that you Hylians ever looked down on us. Mistrusted us.

"And now these desert _bitches_ think to scamper in and attack, because they can't think to civilize themselves and raise themselves up the proper way? Fuck 'em. I love my sisters, and I love Hyrule too."

Aghreal burried her face in both hands. "Dammit, going home tonight is going to be _so_ annoying." Link concealed his laugh with a snort.

Rusl half-bowed as the defiant Gerudo came onto the stage. "Thank you for volunteering. Would anyone else join their classmate?"

"As idiotic as she is, I'm not going to let my sister run off on her own," proclaimed another at the back. "Gerudo stick together."

"Like hell you do," Aghreal muttered.

Then a Hylian stood, though as large as he was, he hardly needed to stand to be seen over all the others. His shoulders were almost as broad as two normal students next to each other, and his red mohawk gave him even more height.

"I ain't that smart," he said. "Goddess knows I can't hide that anymore. Don't 'spect I'm getting into any colleges or anything. Figure I can knock some heads together, though." He joined the two Gerudo onstage.

"Well fuck, I'm not letting a pair of damn Gerudo show me up," another boy called. Then too many people rose too quickly for them all to say anything, so in silent agreement, they all filed their way up to meet Rusl.

"Look well on your brave classmates," Rusl told the school, once the flow had stopped. There were perhaps forty students onstage, some seeming more confident than others. "Look, and pray that you seem them again. For those not quite old enough, I will be open to holding training sessions. Get you a bit more prepared for what is to come. You can find me in the cafeteria during lunch, or at the recruiter's office on Castle Drive after school."

At the close, the students began filing out. The dull atmosphere of thirty minutes ago had been replaced completely by a buzzing excitement. People whispered rumors and speculations to each other, comments about who had chosen to enlist, and who had not.

"You're welcome to have dinner with us, if going home would really be that annoying," he offered.

Aghreal pressed her lips together. "No, I should deal with this. Or be there when it is dealt with, rather."

* * *

At lunch, the fighting began.

Link sat by himself, as usual, eating a dish of shrimp scampi that tasted better than it looked. On another day, he might have enjoyed it. The butter was noticeable, yet not overbearing, and a strange spice he couldn't identify brought out the taste. He usually found it a treat to get a hot meal he didn't prepare, doubly so when it actually tasted decent.

Mike sat down next to him, and it was all Link could do not to sigh, or stand and walk away.

"Sucks about Zelda, man," he said. "I know you two were close. You been keeping in touch online?"

Link should his head. "Haven't heard a word from her. Guess they're really paranoid about security."

"Well, don't worry about it dude. You were practically dating the princess. Now she's gone, chicks are gonna start _swarming_. It's a status thing." He threw an arm around Link's shoulder in what he probably thought was a companionable manner. "You're going to be a _killer_, dude."

Link took a bite of his food to buy time. What did you even _say_ to something like that?

"Hey," Mike continued. "You know what would boost you up even more? You should go talk to that Rusl dude. Say you're all concerned about Hyrule's future and want to train and stuff. They'll think you're so goddamn brave, but most likely this whole thing'll blow over by the time you're old enough. Goddamn hero without even lifting a finger."

The worst part was, he had already planned to talk to the old soldier. With Nabooru and Zelda out of the picture, it was his best chance to become strong enough to fight Ganondorf. Now Mike would think that it was because he suggested that Link do so. And knowing him, he would probably go tell everyone about it.

Link mentally slapped himself. He was working to save Hyrule. Basing his actions on what other high schoolers thought was stupid.

"And worst-case, even if we somehow still haven't won by the time you're sixteen, you get to go kill Gerudo," Mike was saying, just as one of the dark-skinned females passed by with her tray. She stopped mid-stride and turned dangerously to Mike.

"I am very tired of being lumped with those desert savages," she spat. "Or did you think I made a weekend trip to Kasuto over break?"

Mike lounged in his chair, brazenly ignoring the threat that blazed in her eyes. "Oh yeah? Then why do you keep acting like them, huh? I know all about your silly rituals, your stupid traditional initiations. Hell, you still pray to the Goddess of the Desert! Maybe if you'd actually act like Hylians, then-"

"Shut up," Link said. He had no idea where it had come from. Normally he wouldn't even think to be so confrontational. Maybe the stress was getting to him. Maybe he just didn't give a damn about things like reputation anymore. "Things are bad enough already. Stop making it worse."

"Oh come on!" Mike yelled, slamming his hand down on the table, at the same time as the Gerudo said "I don't need a puny Hylian like _you_ trying to defend me."

"Puny Hylian, huh? You really think you could take us?"

"You are weak. You lay around on padded seats, eating food you know will kill you. Your culture is soft and pathetic. There-"

Mike slammed his fist into the Gerudo's face. Link wondered how anyone who'd made it through middle school could possibly be so stupid. Gerudo came swarming to the table to defend their sister. Link scampered away before the inevitable happened and the more courageous Hylians hopped in to fight off the Gerudo.

It seemed like the perfect opportunity to go talk to Rusl. He was seated at a folding plastic table in the corner of the cafeteria. Two Hylians sweated on the floor, doing push ups. Rusl frowned down at them, holding a watch in his right hand.

"And... time," Rusl said. The boys on the floor let themselves falls in semi-dignified heaps. "That was one minute. Sucks, doesn't it?"

He turned to Link. "Another trainee?"

"Yes sir."

"Call me Rusl," he said. "I'm only technically in the Army. And by your looks, you aren't even close to being in. Rusl'll do just fine."

"I'm Link."

Rusl took his hand thoughtfully. "Link, I know that name. A friend of Fado's right?"

Link grinned. "You must have a fine attention to detail."

"Or perhaps she just liked to talk. A lot. Especially about you." Link felt a stab of guilt. He had never called or visited like he'd promised to. He'd completely forgotten about her. She hadn't.

"Well Link, why are you here?"

"To train."

"Then let us get started," the old man said with a smile.


	14. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Link stood in the school parking lot as his stomach began to eat itself. He'd hardened himself stop against this despair when he was only eight. The thought of having another potential family spurn him had grown too sad to bear, and so he had sealed his hope away, resigned himself to spending his childhood under the gentle care of Miss Rebecca.

Now, it was back. Irene should have been there to pick him up. Should have been there twenty minutes ago. The little fight that afternoon had upset a number of people. Seemed it had upset her, too.

Link hadn't expected to win many friends by standing up for the Gerudo, but he was certain Irene had been his friend. Despite her sardonic insults, he could tell the girl liked him. But then everything had changed.

He sighed and looked once more at his watch. It was clear she wasn't coming. No benefit in standing around.

"Ah Link, there you are," came the gruff voice of Rusl from behind him. "Glad I caught you. We'll be having our first training session in a few moments, if you're interested."

Link nodded. Perhaps things would work out after all. There were few things as important as preparing for his desert journey, and maybe one of the other students training with him could take him home. He followed Rusl into the school gym, eager to begin.

Link recognized a few of the other students. Most seemed freshmen and sophomores who weren't quite old enough to enlist. A junior in dark, baggy clothes complained loudly that his parents probably wouldn't sign the consent form.

His eyes widened to see Desi, standing alone in a corner. Despite her prowess at tennis, she had always expressed a teasing disdain toward the more athletic side of things. Always the first to complain when Link and Zelda decided to go for a run, always quick to find comfort. He crossed the room to stand next to her. She shifted somewhat, making room for him.

"Only another year 'til I'm old enough," she said. "Think there'll be anything left for me?"

"I hope not," Link said, shrugging.

She let out a long, tired sigh. "You're right. The important thing is getting Zelda back."

Then Rusl called for them all to start, and there was no more time for conversation.

The hour they spent training was among the most disappointing of his life. He expected all the sweat that Nabooru brought out of him, and then a little more. He need not have worried. Either Rusl was going easy on the students, or Link's training with Zelda had paid off more than he thought. After an hour of light calisthenics, only the faintest trace of sweat had accumulated on his skin. His breathing had noticeably elevated only twice, and that during sprints.

He tried not to let the disappointment slam into him as the other students prepared to go home. He had thought this training would be the key that let him navigate the desert safely. If this introduction was anything to go by, however, it was no more than a glorified waste of his time.

"Hang on a moment, Link," Rusl called as he began to exit with Desi.

They waited until they were the only ones left in the gym. The silence was awkward at first, but then Link found the rock, as Aghreal had taught him, and he weathered the discomfort with grace.

"I can see you aren't just here to play soldier," Rusl said at last.

Link did not know what sort of response the man was looking for, so he stayed silent, waiting for him to make his point.

"Either you really hate the Gerudo, or you are deeply concerned about Kasuto. And according to rumor, you don't just hate Gerudo as blindly as some."

When he turned to look at Rusl, he noticed how clear, how sharp his green eyes were. Almost like Fado's. He would not have thought they would have been a good match, but he was beginning to learn that they both had a certain way of seeing things…

He shook off his thoughts and returned to the subject at hand.

"The Princess is my friend," he said. "I want her back."

Rusl nodded distantly and began limping over to the exit.

"I always yearned for a cause to fight so fiercely for," he mused. "But is it a blessing, or a curse?"

"It's just something I have to do," Link offered.

At this Rusl laughed, a low rumble deep in his chest, that almost sounded like a growl. "Ah, of course. It would feel like that, to you. Listen: don't waste your time with this training here. It's made for the people who haven't figured out how to _actually_ care. Now, I'm not officially supposed to be doing anything more than this, but if we were both to happen to be at the shooting range just south of the city on Saturday afternoon, and I just happened to have brought along an extra gun with me, I wouldn't mind showing a bright young student a thing or two."

Link grinned as he worked out the implications. He would have to use the Master Sword against Ganondorf, true enough, but that didn't mean he wouldn't have to fight his less-immune minions. Learning to shoot would be a very useful step.

He idly wondered why Zelda never had Nabooru show him. As dangerous as she was, he was certain she was well-familiar with all sorts of weapons. Perhaps she just didn't want to deal with the security nightmare of having the princess around countless loaded guns. Thinking about it, Link couldn't really blame her.

Desi's mom ended up giving him a ride home. They chatted idly about homework, and classes, and the unpleasantness of running. They pointedly ignored anything of consequence going on in their lives, until Link jumped out at his house, and Desi caught his hand.

"It's good to know you care about getting Zelda back, too," she said. "I was worried-" she cut herself off and chewed at her lip.

"I care just as much as you do," he said. "If there's anything I can do to make it safe for her to come back just one day earlier…" he shrugged. "I have to try, you know?"

She smiled. "Well… good, then. Don't be a stranger."

His smile stayed with him until he got inside. Then it fled. The air felt heavier, somehow, as though a weight were pressing down on his mood. Kafei and Anju's shoes sat neatly next to each other in the mudroom. He checked his watch; normally they wouldn't have been home for at least half an hour. He could think of few people who valued their work more. For them both to be home early…

"Link, there you are," Anju said. "Are you always out this late?"

"Just training with Rusl," he said. Then he added in explanation, "He's an army recruiter."

She winced at that, as obvious as if he had struck her. Then she relaxed and let her eyes sink closed.

"I suppose there's no stopping boys from trying to be noble," she said. Then she caught herself, as though she had just been about to topple off the edge of a staircase, and shook her head slowly. "No, that's not fair. You are doing more than trying."

Link hadn't the first clue what she was talking about, but he knew from her tone that he would soon find out. He slipped out of his shoes, set his backpack out of the way in the corner, and followed her into the sitting room. Kafei was there, but not in his armchair. Rather, he paced anxiously about the room, hands clasped at the small of his back. He turned as Link entered, and favored him with a false smile.

"Welcome home," Kafei said, his voice a dull monotone. He licked his lips, crept his mouth open, glanced at Anju, then shut his mouth again.

"I've been thinking all day, and I still can't figure out how to tell you," he murmured. He closed his eyes, and drew in a large breath.

Link looked up at Anju. He had never considered her a particularly strong woman. She worked long hours at her inn, true, and still found the time to try to bake. But when word of the invasion had come, and she had buried herself completely in her work, it did not surprise him that she would retreat like that.

Even so, she seemed more in control than her husband. She wrapped an arm around Link's shoulder, and gave him a gentle squeeze. Guilt crept up into his cheeks. Of the three, he was perhaps the least in need of comfort.

At last, Kafei spoke.

"May as well get it over with and be direct," he said. "I've been thinking, the past couple days. Thinking hard. I served as an officer for a few years, when I was too reckless to know better. I believe it is my duty to return."

The pronouncement was met with silence. What was there to say, 'good luck?'

"Living's cheap out there," he continued. "I'll be able to send most of my paycheck home, and if…"

Anju's hand trembled on his shoulder.

"I think I should go walk around, and let you finish saying good-bye to each other," Link said. Kafei raised a hand, as if to beckon him closer, but Link cut him off. "I'll be fine, really. Could we talk, though, before you leave?"

After being assured that they would have a thorough conversation, Link turned around and went back outside. He had nowhere in particular to walk to, so he let his feet carry him. He wandered past stone houses, sprawling lawns with adorable little ornaments, couples walking newborn puppies, and the occasional frollicking squirrel.

Before too long, his nose picked up on freshly-cooked food, and his course brought him to a busier part of town. Hylians and Gerudo bustled through the streets, getting their shopping done now that work was closed. Castle Town had its supermarkets, of course, but the citizens also prided themselves on local vendors with unique crafts. But Link had stumbled upon the historical district, where the air was filled to bursting with the excited yells of an open-air market.

Everything had felt so dull, so muted over the past few days. Here, it was like nothing had ever happened. Vendors sang out their wares, each carrying his own tune, all blending together in contrapuntal cacophony.

He bought his dinner—a hot roll, stuffed with smoked ham and little packets of oozing cheese, for three rupees. The baker had wanted five, but Link talked him into a student discount. Making the most of his mild victory, he found a relatively-unoccupied bench and sat down to enjoy his dinner. It was less than what he would normally eat, but the taste more than made up for it. As children chased each other about the crowded square, and lovers held hands, he could almost forget his duty. His fate.

Before he had finished eating, two Gerudo, perhaps a year or so older than Aghreal, broke out of the crowd and stopped before the bench. A look of surprise passed over their faces for an instant, before the one in front broke into an exaggerated grin.

"Ah, our savior," she said, her voice dripping with ire and acid.

"The Hero himself reborn, come to save us from the oppressive Hylians," the second one joined in, immediately catching onto the game.

"Such nobility. Such grace."

"Such courage!"

As one, they dropped to their knees before the bench, spreading their arms to the side in a gesture of supplication.

Link shifted his gaze aside and did his best not to squirm. He had a feeling they were making fun of him—only a fool could mistake the tone—but he could not find the humor in it. He felt his cheeks flush red from their veiled mocking, but he carefully kept the rest of his body controlled, firm. He sought the rock, as Aghreal had taught him.

The one in front laughed, cool and dry, then lunged forward and grabbed Link's shirt, pressing her face so close he smelled her breath.

"We do not require your defense, boy. Let my sister play what games she will, but remove yourself from our affairs. We are fine on our own."

"Enough!" snapped a powerful voice from behind her. The two Gerudo scrambled to her feet, turning to face the newcomer. She looked like a cross between a warrior princess and a housewife. She held a shopping bag in one hand; the other cradled a sleeping baby. Gentle lines of age creased her face, but her eyes burned with a heat that Link had no desire to stand up to.

His antagonists bowed their heads, stepping backward away from the woman. She fixed her eyes on each for long moments. Then she turned to Link. Her features softened, and she favored him with a warm smile.

"I've heard of you, child. Try not to let these fools of mine dishearten you." The two girls both winced at that. "But perhaps be a little more… prudent? Yes, prudent, in your actions."

Link rose and thanked her, though his words came out muted and jumbled together. She hardly paid attention, though. Already, she had turned back toward the crowd. Her daughters followed behind, shooting Link glares of warnings as they merged into the throng.

"You are just wonderful at making friends, aren't you?" Aghreal said.

Link turned to see his her casually juggling a pair of apples in one hand. She wasn't even looking at them.

"I was just trying to help," he grumbled.

She laughed. "In some circles—the idiotic ones—getting help from a wimpy little Hylian boy is…" she paused, closing her eyes in search of the right word. "...scandalous.

As the next apple landed in her hand, she tossed it to Link. To his surprise, he caught it easily.

"Thank you." He took a large bite. Soft, rich, and juicy. "But I really ought to be getting home."

When she did not respond, he shrugged and began walking back toward the residential part of the city. Aghreal fell into step beside him.

"Why are you out to begin with?" she asked.

Link shrugged. "I felt like taking a walk.

Aghreal sighed audibly. "Please. I say this as a friend: you are the dullest person I know. You did not just decide to go stroll through the market. Especially not with a test tomorrow."

He froze mid-stride. In all the chaos, the pending math test had completely slipped his mind. The panic only took him for a moment, though—long enough to realize that he had bigger things to care about. He resumed walking.

"You're a good teacher. I'm ready for it," he said. It was mostly true. His understanding of the subject had shifted in the past months. He began to see the ideas tie into each other, catching glimpses from time to time of the underlying tapestry. If he really wanted to do his best, though, he'd still be getting in some last minute practice.

Aghreal must have realized this. "You are not suddenly a genius, and I know you wouldn't just stop trying."

He almost snapped at her. He never pried into her affairs when she clearly didn't want to talk, no matter how much he wanted to. He knew better, though. He strode forward, eyes fixed ahead of him, breathing deeply. There was no need to be mean.

"I just needed to get out of the house for a while," he said carefully. As he said it, he realized that he actually wanted to tell her. Talk to her about Kafei, and his pending departure. And why not? Did he fear she would think him weak for it? She already did.

"I am well familiar with that feeling," Aghreal said. It was a shock even to hear her admit it.

They walked in companionable silence for a time.

"Are you not going to say why?" she prompted at last.

"It's… kinda silly."

She snorted. "I don't talk to you for your philosophical musings."

He turned his head to see her grinning mischievously at him. He chuckled along with her. She had a point. Kind of.

"Kafei's joining the Army," he finally said. "I mean, it's not the same as if someone's real dad was going off to war, or anything. I'd just… I'd wanted a family for so long, and then…" He gestured futilely at the air. "I know he's doing what's right, or what he thinks is right anyway, but…"

"You really wanted a father," Aghreal finished for him.

He shrugged. "Just one of those dreams, you know? Wanted to be an astronaut, too."

"I've wanted one, too," Aghreal said.

"What?" He was shocked she was opening up at all, and doubly so to learn that she had such mundane fantasies.

"Never told my sisters, of course. We do not quite have the best history with male Gerudo."

After he recovered, Link almost burst into laughter at the image of her confession. Only his dampened mood and sense of politeness stifled it. "I never took you for a daddy's girl," he said.

She patted his shoulder, then grabbed on tight, slowly working her nails into his skin. He hissed, squirming away from the mild sting.

"If you say that again, I will slug you," Aghreal said. He nodded, and she released him, laughing.

Their conversation turned to lighter things as they continued walking to Link's house: the unrelenting chill that had recently swept into Hyrule, who had enlisted and who hadn't, camping. Before too long, she started drilling him on math. ("Just because _you_ don't care doesn't mean I'm going to let my grade suffer," she grumbled.) It was somewhat more difficult without paper in front of him, but he did far better than he would have at the beginning of the year.

Link savored the sense of companionship. Fado had always been too immature to connect with. For a moment, he had thought he and Zelda were becoming close friends, but no matter what, he would always be a tool for her, a high-valued game piece in her play against Ganon. Aghreal was simply his friend. She demanded nothing, and seemed to understand him. The pleasantness of it surprised him; he had been so focused on having a family that he had never given thought to making friends.

They continued together until they reached his house. Anju leaned out the front door, waving.

"Oh, Aghreal! Are you joining us for dinner?"

The Gerudo shook her head, suddenly bursting with polite charm.

"No thank you, Mrs. Dotour. I just wanted to invite you to our Hero's Day festival."

"What?" Link said.

Aghreal talked over him. "I heard your husband is going off to fight, and I thought you wouldn't want to be alone, especially on Hero's Day."

"That's very sweet dear, but that's when the inn is busiest. I just couldn't. I'm sure Link would love to join you, though."

"That would be wonderful." She threw both her arms around his shoulders and squeezed, _hugged _him, just like Fado might have. "Thank you, Mrs. Dotour," she said, beaming.

Before Link could properly react, Anju smiled and said, "Hurry in dear. Dinner's getting cold." The door slammed behind her.

Link blinked. "Did I... miss something?" It was like an entirely different person had been standing next to him.

Aghreal chuckled, a wicked grin spreading across her face. "Hero's Day. Noon. Don't be late."

Link walked to the house, wondering when the last time was that his life had been perfectly _normal_.

Dinner was a muted affair. Anju played her best at happiness, but Link saw the truth in the slowness of her jaw, the quaver in her hand. He saw it in the lines of worry etched on her face and in the long glances she cast at Kafei. He felt it, he thought, even in the air. It felt somber. Stale.

Link helped with the dishes after dinner, though it soon became clear that Anju had little help to offer. He quietly suggested that she might want to sit down and relax while he finished up. She put up token resistance, then took his advice.

It wasn't until 8 o'clock that Link and Kafei had their discussion. Anju had gone to bed early, with the aid of some sleeping pills. The two sat in the lounge, Kafei on his recliner, Link on a wooden chair. The man stared past him, eyes fixed on something that wasn't there.

"I'm still not sure I made the right decision," he said, his hoarse voice almost a whisper. "After tonight, I am less certain than ever."

"Other people thought it was the right thing, too," Link said. He could barely think what to say. He shouldn't have to be comforting adults, and definitely not Kafei. He was just in high school; what could he possibly bring to the conversation?

"I suppose it would selfish to argue that Anju and I love each other so much more… Especially to you. I've not heard you complain once about your… mission."

Link shrugged. "Complaining wouldn't help me."

Kafei laughed, low and long. His head fell back against the recliner, and he stared up at the ceiling. "That's the right idea. I almost want to say you're lucky you've never been in love. Almost. Anju was the best thing to ever happen to me."

He sat up and rubbed his face. Link watched patiently. If the man needed to talk, he could listen. Listening was easy. He just hoped he didn't ask him anything. But Kafei, it seemed was finished with that subject.

"You will face a similar choice before long, if I remember," he said. "How go your schemes with the princess?"

Link paused, still unsure just how much he wanted to reveal. "I'd hoped she'd be around longer to guide me," he said at last. "I have an idea of what to do, but…" he shrugged.

Kafei smiled. "Welcome to adulthood."

Though Link had known the man only a few months, his chest swelled with pride. He had always been more mature than other kids, but the adults had still looked down at him, hiding the truth from his innocent mind. Finally, he was being taken seriously. Kafei was speaking to him as an equal.

"I will have to leave at some point," Link said. "Hopefully later, rather than sooner, but there are things that must be done. Will Anju…?"

"She is stronger than you might think," Kafei assured him. "My first few days gone may be rough, though. Take care of her. Promise me."

"I do not like making promises," Link said. Pain and outraged flashed across Kafei's face, but Link would not leave him with a lie, however comforting. He pressed on. "If things change, if I have to go… away tomorrow, if-" Link cut himself off before he began rambling. There were a thousand ifs, each less likely than the other. "I'll do what I can, but _this_ takes priority."

After a long pause, Kafei nodded. "I guess I can't ask more than that. My fault you're in this mess, anyway." He pushed himself to his feet with a sigh.

Link rose as well. They stood there together, hesitant to move into the future. Then Link stepped forward and flung his arms around the older man.

"Be safe, dad."


	15. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"Careful with the trigger. Make sure it goes straight back. You're pulling still," Rusl growled.

Link lay atop a gentle hill, perhaps two miles from Castle Town, cradling a semi-automatic rifle. Rusl had spent the past two hours going over safety, marksmanship basics, safety, weapon mechanics, and safety with him and Desi. As the man talked and talked, the burning excitement that Link had first felt gradually decayed into dull boredom.

Then he finally loaded the deadly weapon, positioned himself on the firing range, and sighted a target.

The focus was instant. He was dimly aware of the biting wind and the faint tug of oncoming hunger, but the target, the weapon, and his breath consumed his entire world.

He exhaled. The target filled his vision, now, and as the rifle stabilized, his finger constricted around the trigger. A sharp crack tore through the air. The gun kicked in recoil, and Link set his sights back on the target.

Rusl sighed. "You're still going too off to the side. Feel it?"

In any other circumstance, Link was sure he would have grown frustrated long before now. As it was, he simply reacquired the target, exhaled, and squeezed.

"Take a break, Link. You're just training bad habits, now."

It was only Rusl's extensive briefing that prevented Link from trying to fire off another shot. You simply didn't ignore the man when he told you to do something with a weapon.

Link set it down and moved back to where he placed his backpack. Desi stepped forward to take her turn. It seemed that she had somehow also impressed Rusl since Monday. As she squeezed off round after round, Rusl knelt beside her, surveying the target with binoculars, and murmuring hints.

The way Rusl had explained it, marksmanship was the easiest thing in the world. There was more to it than just point and shoot, but only barely. Breathing, it turned out, would shift the balance of the weapon when you held it. And a small shift here made quite a big difference at a hundred feet. The trick, Rusl said, was to let out all your air the moment before firing. It would provide a stable base to make final adjustments.

After that, one detail remained, the detail Link just couldn't seem to get right: squeezing the trigger. As with everything, Rusl made it sound so simple: just move your finger straight back so it doesn't nudge the muzzle left or right. Link, apparently, was doing the exact opposite.

But there was no use in obsessing over it. The day was still young, and Rusl had told him to take a break. He sat down by his backpack and resumed reading his desert survival guide. He would get it, one way or another.

* * *

The sun had fully risen, though it did little to dull the cold ache that had gradually worked its way through Link's limbs. He lay on the ground, holding Rusl's weapon—unloaded, this time.

"It's a simple task," Rusl said, stooping down to replace the coin on the rifle's muzzle. "I almost think you aren't trying."

Link did not deign to respond to that.

Rusl stepped back. "Well, whenever you finally get it, that's when lunch is," he said.

"Aw, maybe you shoulda paid attention when Rusl was teaching," Desi said, somewhere behind him. He could almost _see_ her smirk. She had just succeeded in shooting a one inch wide circle ten consecutive times, and would not shut up about it.

Link squeezed the trigger. The dime trembled off. Rusl replaced it.

"I don't think Desi will be happy about missing lunch because you can't keep your finger straight," Rusl mused.

"Wait, why would..." Desi began, before trailing off. "What? Hey! That's not fair!"

Squeeze. Drop. Replace. Rusl must have been staring at Desi the entire time, because she sighed and said "Yeah, life isn't fair. I get it."

"My point was that you're in this together, but I guess that works too," he said.

It was another fifteen minutes before he finally got it, and then Rusl made him stay down there another twenty until he could do it consistently. At the end, he was sore, his head pounded, and his elbows were almost raw from digging into the ground. Leaning back on his pack, he began to eat the sandwich he packed.

"Took you long enough," Desi muttered. He shrugged. So she was better than him. It wouldn't matter, in the end. Or shouldn't, anyway. Just good enough to get by, that was all he needed here.

Desi, however, would not let it drop.

"So, how's it feel to be beaten by a girl?" she said, in between mouthfuls of an apple.

"I mean, it's not really the first time," Link said, turning all his will to remaining polite. "Remember tennis?"

She stared at him. "Was that supposed to be a comeback?"

Link shrugged. "You shot better than me. What can I say?"

"Wow. You even make _gloating_ boring," Desi grumbled.

They stayed at the shooting range until late afternoon. Link did not improve as much as he would have liked, but he was managing to hit the small circle in the center of the paper target more often than not by the end.

As the sun lowered, the two students dismantled the weapon and set about scoring the carbon residue off the innards.

"Of course, this is just the beginning," Rusl was saying. "You don't win fights by hitting paper targets at five hundred feet. And from what I hear, bullets aren't always effective on our enemy."

Desi snarled with an intensity that made Link sit up straight and stare at her. "What _is_ effective, then?"

Rusl shrugged. "This is still new territory for everyone, and I'm not on the front lines. I do not think some time spent on hand-to-hand training would be wasted." He eyed them both. "Nor some weight training, I expect."

"Just give me the time and place," Desi said, fitting the tiny metal components back into the bolt assembly.

With her good mood all afternoon, Link had thought she had more or less reverted to her usual self. But once again, her voice was so cold, so determined, it was almost frightening. Briefly, Link worried that he was not taking his quest seriously enough. He shook his head and forced the thought from his mind. He was already working near as hard as he could; he would solve the problem in his own way, in his own time.

"I'll be in the gym next Saturday," Rusl said.

"Saturday's a week from now. What do we do until then?"

Rusl shrugged. "Rest. Study." He turned from them, gazing west at the sun creeping behind the hills, flooding the range with a soft pink light. "Be thankful for what you have."

* * *

The next Monday morning found Link standing in his driveway, waiting for Irene. He had waited each day of the previous week, both before and after school, to no avail. He was prepared to keep waiting as long as he had to. Irene would come around. Link could not say how he knew this, or why it was even important, but he knew that when it happened, they would both be the better for it.

On the bright side, he was getting very practiced at walking. He could now easily make it to school in under half an hour. Still not enough time to arrive on time for his first class, but the teachers seemed a bit lax on discipline since the war had started. It worried everyone. The Gerudo had pushed past Kasuto, the story went, and would control the entire southern province by winter's end, the way things were going.

He made himself watch the news each night, counted how many people died as the fighting dragged on. It was his job to stop it, somehow. He just wasn't ready yet.

"You gonna stand there like a lost boy scout, or are you coming?"

Link started. He hadn't even noticed Irene pull up. Beaming, he scrambled into the passenger's seat. "I knew you'd come back!"

Irene muttered something that sounded like "too damn pathetic," then sped off toward school. It would be nice to arrive on time this week.

"So, about the fight…" he began. Irene turned on him, snarling, as she brought the car to a screeching halt in front of a red light.

"Do you _like_ walking to school, kid? 'Cause that can happen again, real fast."

He shut up for the rest of the ride. When they arrived, Irene told him she'd see him after school, and they began walking together to the front doors. He did not go in.

Why should he? He would sit in a building for several hours, learning nothing of value. At least, nothing of value to his quest. Surely his time would be better spent preparing. And if he could think of nothing to do… then perhaps it was time to head north.

Even so, he felt a strange draw to the building. He _had_ to attend. He needed to do well in all his classes or else…

What? He wouldn't get a good job? If he even survived long enough to worry about that. Anju would be disappointed? He would have to leave sooner or later.

He stared at the school. He really should just walk away. Prepare fully for what lay ahead. He just couldn't bring himself to take that first step.

"Never thought I'd see Mr. Goody-pants not wanting to go to school," Desi interrupted. He turned to see her grinning behind him. How long had she been standing there?

He forced a smile. "I just can't help but think there are better things to do."

"Training?" she asked.

He nodded.

"So what, you just going to spend eight hours a day in a gym? Never thought I'd ever be the one talking you out of playing hooky."

He did not know when he had decided, but he knew in that moment that he had to tell her at least a little bit. She was Zelda's friend too, after all. He was tired of working all by himself.

"Zelda and I were planning something," he said. "I need to prepare for it.

Her eyes widened. Then, she grabbed his hand and was pulling him out to the small woods behind the school. He let himself be dragged behind, ignoring the stares from the throng of students. She pushed through the brush until they came to a small clearing, illuminated by a touch of sunlight.

"No one will bother us here," she told him.

"Wait, so this is where you are when you're not in class?"

She stared levelly at him. At last, he dropped his backpack to the ground with a sigh. And he began to talk. Haltingly, at first. But once the tale began to spill, he found no reason not to loose the rest of it.

If the revelation shocked her, Desi did not show it.

"So, when do we leave?" she said, almost as soon as he was finished.

Link blinked. "We?"

"Were you planning on wandering through an uncharted desert all by yourself? Even _I'm_ not that dumb."

"I guess it would be pretty silly to tell you it'd be dangerous, huh?" Link said. When she said nothing, he rubbed his head. Now that she brought it up, there really was no reason to wait any longer. At least, not to get the Master Sword. Rusl's training was useful, yes, but he certainly didn't have time to become an expert warrior before he even started.

"We'll spend a week gathering supplies and double-checking everything. Head out next Monday."

Desi showed a fierce grin that Link was not entirely comfortable with.

"In a week, then."

* * *

**A/N: **I must make a brief apology. This story was not plotting as elegantly as I would like. With the current chapter, I found myself torn between tying up all the loose ends in Hyrule, or just pushing forward in the story. I believe that the plot really needs to be moving forward here. As such, there are a couple minor loose ends that (probably) won't addressed. I'm sorry I couldn't find a better solution. I did the best with what I had.


	16. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

In the end, Link did attend class. The waste of time grated on him, but drawing extra attention to himself would make escaping north to the desert that much more difficult. He only put in the least amount of effort he could get away with, though. While teachers lectured, his mind was wrapped around his plan, his packing list, probing for anything he might not have thought of, any hidden contingency.

"What's wrong?" Aghreal asked in Algebra on Tuesday. "You are doing too well to just give up."

"I am not giving up," he told her.

She raised her eyebrows.

"I'm focusing on something more important. About… the thing you figured out was going on."

She regarded him coolly, then declined her head in a measured nod. "I am doing all the assignments, then?" she asked.

"Sorry."

"I will believe that it is important, and trust you to explain when you can," she said, and that was that.

He squeezed in a few more sessions with Rusl too, despite the man's urging to wait until Saturday.

"Big test next Monday," Link said. "I'd like to train now, so there's more time to review over the weekend."

Tuesday evening, they went on an extended run that left Link's legs sore and wobbling. Thursday, Russell showed him and Desi some basic grappling techniques.

Through it all, Link wondered whether he was wasting his time with it. He would get used to using his legs quickly when it came time to go north, and if a Gerudo were trying to kill him, he doubted the scant grappling tricks he'd learned would do anything about that.

Even so, he was not about to pass up any opportunity, and Rusl was the only professional soldier Link knew. No one else could give him as good advice, not with Zelda and Nabooru absent.

When the Monday of their departure came, Link was not ready. In his excitement, he had barely slept the past night, and as he stood in his kitchen, waiting for the ride to school, he knew he would miss what had become his home. He had not even had a chance to hug Anju good-bye, and he might not see her again.

He looked once more over the note he had written for her, hoping it would be enough, but knowing that it never could. She had done so much for him, and now he was just running away, right along with Kafei. Though the man knew Link had to—Kafei had to have realized that!—he could not shake the feeling that he was doing something wrong.

Putting the distraction from his mind, Link folded the note and sealed it in a prepared envelope. His course was set. Worrying about it would only complicate things.

The ride with Irene was unusually silent. She must have sense his restlessness. She glanced his way a couple times along the way, but never said anything.

"You okay, kid?" she said when they got to school.

"Nerves," LInk said with a shrug.

"It's just a test," she said, rolling her eyes. "Don't worry about it."

Irene entered the building, and Link hung back. The minutes seemed to drag by slower than they ever had as he waited. In his head, he knew that few people would give him any attention at all, that this early in the morning no one was aware enough to find anything odd about a random boy lingering outside the building. But still he felt the pressure, the sense that someone would notice something, that he would end up in the principal's office rather than heading north.

Desi came by five minutes later. She pulled up in a pink-tinged car, waited just long enough for Link to hop in, and then they were off.

"Pink?" Link asked as he fastened his seatbelt.

"It's a cute color," Desi said, shrugging.

They drove in silence, Link staring listlessly out the window as they passed out of the city and the landscape grew more sparse. Skyscrapers turned to street-side restaurants, and soon even those fell away, leaving only the occasional rest stop or gas station, barely maintained, standing along the freeway.

Link took a moment to look over his supplies one last time. He had filled most of the space in his pitifully small backpack with meal replacement bars and bottles of water. The side pouches were overflowing with salt tablets, and he'd crammed a simple compass into his cargo pocket. He had considered finding a metal detector in case the sword was buried beneath the desert, but in the end he decided it would be more a liability than an asset.

"It's kinda too late to be worrying about your packing job," Desi said.

"There's gas stations, small stores," Link said. "I'm sure we could find something, if we needed it."

"Do we?"

"No." He zipped his backpack up again. He'd determined that on three separate occasions since Saturday morning. He was as prepared as he could be. He still wanted to check another time, though. Desi smiled as though he'd said something amusing.

He stared at her for a few moments, still trying to figure her out. Had the attack on Hyrule really been enough to cause this transformation? Had she just been pretending to be ditzy before? In the end, Link told himself that it didn't matter. She was who she was, and that was who he had to work with. He didn't know her as well as Zelda, barely even knew how to talk to her, but they were a team now.

With nothing else to do, Link leaned back and began to doze. He awoke to Desi shaking his arm. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and look at his surroundings. Dying grass ran up to a dilapidated metal fence. Beyond it, everything died. Link could see no trace of green, no variation to the terrain at all, just miles upon miles of sand. Even the sun seemed to shine brighter, beyond the border.

"We should've brought shaded goggles," Desi grumbled.

Together, they shouldered their packs. Link pulled a pair of pliers from his and began to cut a hole in the fence large enough to walk through. They had decided early on that the car would have to stay in Hyrule. It would likely just run down out in the desert with no paved roads. It would be nice not to have to walk home.

"I'm surprised there aren't any guards or anything," Desi said.

"What's there to guard?" Link said, continuing his work.

"Dunno," Desi said. "Just seems they'd want to be guarding it."

"Don't complain about good things," he told her. There would be enough bad things to complain about as it was.

A few moments later, they were through, facing the endless expanse of the northern desert. An image flashed through his mind: a mountain towering over the world, ringed in smoke. And through the haze, a voice echoing in buried memories.

"_That's such a huge hill! Do I really have to climb that?"_

"_The mountain is smaller than your quest, little one. I cannot force you, nor can the princess. Yet I believe you will choose to complete it regardless. Do I guess wrongly?"_

But that was not now. Death Mountain had been buried beneath the sands of time, washed out of living memory. Link pointed his compass north and began to walk.

"So, where exactly are we going?" Desi asked.

"Sahasrahla said the Master Sword was north-ish," Link said, without breaking stride. There were no landmarks to navigate by, so he kept his eyes darting to the compass, checking to see he was still going north. More or less.

"Ish?"

"And a little to the left."

"What."

There was a silence for all of three paces.

"The immortal sage of legend reads webcomics?" Desi asked.

Link kept walking.

"And is this literally all the info you have? How the hell are we supposed to find anything like that?"

Link tried to shrug, but gave up when he felt the resistance from his pack. No reason to tire himself with frivolous actions.

"Well, the goddesses arranged it, you know. So I figure there'll be _something_. Fate and stuff."

"'_Fate and stuff'_? That's your plan?"

Link did not respond. There was nothing to say, really. Either she'd accept it, or she'd give up and leave. He would prefer her company, of course, but he had nothing to add that he hadn't already said.

At last she sighed. "Fine, we'll go with your dumb plan. But if we die out here it's your fault."

The first hour passed rather smoothly. The going was uncomfortable, of course, but no more than he had expected. It did not take long for his upper back to grow sore from the weight, and the shifting sand threatened to rub blisters into his feet. It almost certainly would have, had he not bought a sturdy pair of boots. They constricted his feet and allowed them little air, but even so, he was glad to have them.

The journey soon began to wear on him, however. The sun rose higher, and a sheen of sweat appeared on his skin.

"Sunscreen," he grumbled. "Of all the stupid things to forget."

"There's still time to go back and grab some," Desi said.

Link stopped and turned to look behind him. The gate and the car had both vanished beyond the horizon. If they were to turn around, sit down in the air-conditioned car…

"I think we should just deal with it," Link said. "It's not vital."

… he wasn't sure he could convince himself to try again. Each step was a struggle, now. Each yard he walked increased his urge to drown himself in the water he brought. But he only had so much. They had to be careful. They had to ration it. And they had to keep going. It was Desi's unflagging pace, more than the thought of the sword, that kept him moving. She looked every bit as miserable as he felt, but still she continued on. He suspected her thoughts moved along much the same lines.

They stopped for a brief lunch in the shade of a small dune. Lunch was what they called it, but snack would have been a better word. An apple and a protein bar, and then they were moving again. Food was another resource they had to conserve.

The winds picked up in the afternoon. At the first sign, the two travellers lowered their goggles over their eyes and wrapped clothes about their faces. Link had read how dangerous a sandstorm could be. The winds grew fiercer, scraping sharp grains of sand across their exposed hands, but it was still no true storm. He could still see the compass, although barely, and he had felt stronger winds before, if no more than once or twice.

By the time the sun finally set, Link was beyond exhausted. He dropped his pack and collapsed down on top of it, glad that the day was finally over.

"That sucked," Desi said, resting her head against her pack. It was the first she had spoken since lunch.

"Longer day tomorrow," Link said. He followed her example, not caring that he had no blanket, no mattress, nothing but his chunky pillow and a bed of sand. He was lying down. Not moving. To him, it was as good as a massage-chair made of clouds.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Desi asked.

_No, not at all._

"What if we can't find the Master Sword? What if it's not even here?"

His mind buzzed with things to tell her, words to reassure her when he felt no more confident himself.

"I am the Hero of Hyrule," he said. "The Goddesses will not abandon me.

Desi smiled and closed her eyes. As he watched her fall into a near-instant sleep, he almost believed what he had said.


	17. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

The next day passed much like the first, except longer. Link also had a deep soreness to deal with, pinching at every point on his body. The hunger that had plagued him the previous day had died down somewhat though, as if his stomach had accepted that complaints were futile. Trying to stretch out the kinks in his neck, he pulled a bruised up apple from his gear, slung on his pack, and resumed his trek north.

Desi seemed a good deal more lively, or at least more talkative. She stayed right by his side, chatting idly about her favorite birds, or the cute tennis partner she missed, and countless other inane things Link did not bother to keep up with. It was pleasant, though. A sense of normality, of everyday pleasantness to grace their rough journey.

Link, in turn, told her of Fado, and Miss Rebecca, and how Aghreal helped him learn Algebra. He couldn't tell whether she was as bored of him as he was of her, but it filled the silence and took their minds off their surroundings.

At the sun's climax, they stopped for lunch.

"We could just walk and eat," Desi said. "Shave some time off."

"Food's the only thing I like about this adventure," Link said through a mouthful of dried granola. "I'm gonna enjoy it."

Lunch was pitifully short. Less than five minutes after he sat down, Link had begun trying to talk himself into standing up again.

"You see that?" Desi said as he massaged his calves. He looked out west where she was pointing. There might have been a faint splotch there, or it might have been nothing.

"Maybe. Barely."

"Wanna check it out?"

He hesitated. "Well, it _is_ north-ish and a little to the left," he said, and they both grinned. It would be absolutely ridiculous for them to find the Master Sword that way, though. More than ridiculous, it would be stupid. Then again, ridiculous things just seemed to happen now. May as well get used to it. "Let's go!"

A clear goal now in sight, they set off with renewed vigor. The whatever-it-was passed out of sight for a few moments as they trod through a small valley between dunes, but their progress was largely straightforward.

After twenty minutes or so, they were able to tell that the splotch was actually a creature of some sort, running toward them.

"Hang on a minute," Desi said, dropping her pack to the ground. She began to rummage. "I thought these would be useful," she muttered. With a grunt, she pulled out two pistols.

Link's thoughts burst into an incoherent tumult, but through it all three threads appeared foremost:

_Rusl never trained us on pistols._

_Who did you steal them from?_

_We're totally doomed_.

"Um… have you thought this through?" he asked.

Desi rolled her eyes. "There's supposed to be monsters in the desert. Guns can kill monsters. Oh look, monster!" She loaded one and handed it to him. "There's the safety, and there's where the bullet comes out," she said, pointing.

"I know where the bullet comes out," Link grumbled. She was already reshouldering her pack. "Just… don't jump to conclusions. It might not be, y'know, evil."

"No duh."

They watched it approach a few moments more.

"We could try running," Desi suggested.

"I'm not that fast," Link said. Especially not while carrying a few dozen pounds of water and equipment across sand.

The creature was clearly visible now. It was a vaguely humanoid figure, leather red skin stretched tight across a slender frame. It loped quickly toward them, metal blade of some sort in hand.

"Doesn't look friendly," Desi said. Link was already raising his pistol, trying to hold it steady in front of him as he squinted down the sights.

"Stop!" Link called to it. He tried to project the commanding tone he'd always seen on TV, but his voice cracked, and it came out like a dull screech.

The monster kept charging. They were close enough to see its fierce snarl, a protrusion of fangs from a cavernous mouth. It raised its blade, metal glinting.

Two shots cracked out, spaced less than a second apart.

The monster skidded to a halt on the ground, trembled, and lay still.

"Nice shot," Desi said, lowering her pistol. They'd gotten it twice in the chest. Pools of blood seeped out and dripped to the ground.

Link barely noticed. _It could hold a sword, it could think, it could've been Hylian almost_, his mind was screaming.

"Link, you okay there?"

He absently raised a hand, pausing her. Within, another voice took over. A familiar voice. The collective wisdom of the dozens of novels he had consumed merged with the firm strength of a figure of pure rightness, a burst of clarity that had been imprisoned in his mind.

_You know better_, the voice said. _Its intent was hostile, and you have not the power to subdue without killing. Not yet._

_But-_

_If this is too much, turn back now. If you turn your sword against Ganon, more than these will fall by your hand 'ere your fight ends. _

That was no longer an option. Even without all his very good reason for fighting, without Zelda or Fado or Kafei or anyone in Kasuto, he simply wasn't about to let the misery of the past two days be for nothing.

_But I don't have to say its death was good, right? It could use tools, it could've had a family, it… it…_

Then a third voice, soft and high, and laced with the love of a mother: _No. You don't ever have to say that_.

"Okay, you're sitting down before you get heat stroke," Desi said, pushing him to the ground. "Drink."

He complied, then started to stand up. "I'm fine. I-"

She shoved him back down. "You were zoning out for like five minutes there. We're resting. Besides, my legs hurt."

"Oh, you mean there's a part of you that _doesn't_ hurt right now?" Link said. It was probably best to just go along with her. He couldn't explain what had just happened, even to himself, and a rest did sound appealing.

As Desi lowered herself down beside him, Link thought he spotted something shimmering behind her ear. He leaned forward, trying to peer around her head, but saw nothing. Maybe the heat _was_ getting to him.

Meanwhile, Desi dug two holsters out of her pack. Link clipped one to his belt and strapped the pistol inside. The strange weight was comforting, especially after the monster, but something felt off about it. Something felt foreign. And on a more practical level, bullets ran out. It would not do to grow too dependent.

"Bokoblins travel in packs," he said. "This was probably a scout or something. We want to be gone before the rest find out he's late."

Desi frowned at him. "You sure? How would you even know that?"

Link did not fail to notice that she now sat somewhat straighter. The question, important as it was, could be waved off for now. Perhaps it had something to do with the voices he'd heard earlier. The important thing, right now, was getting away, finding a place to hide.

"Come on, I'm good for now," he said, standing up. "I want to be miles gone before they find him. Hidden too, if we can."

As he helped Desi to her feet, he thought he saw that strange blue glow again. He could have snarled. He would have, if he were alone. He couldn't afford to start doubting his senses, not now, not out here.

He set out at a brisk stride, Desi matching him step for step.

"So, where exactly are you planning to hide in a flat desert?"

He shrugged. "Don't know. But it's just stupid to give up before you've even tried."

"Um… Link?"

For the first time, he noticed Desi wasn't beside him. He sighed, biting back a stinging comment he'd never even have thought of two months ago.

"Desi, we don't have time-"

He cut himself off mid-turn. Desi stood five paces back, staring slack-jawed at a hovering orb of soft fluorescent blue.

Well, it seemed he wasn't insane. Probably. That was good.

"Hiya!" the orb beamed. No, not the orb. There was no reason to keep being silly about these things. That was a fairy. He was holding a conversation with an actual fairy.

On second thought, maybe he _had_ gone insane at some point.

"I'm Flueckli," the fairy said. It had started orbiting around them, bouncing up and down excitedly as it went. "I've never met any real life humans before! You two are so adorable. Not like in a mushy way, but Goddesses, real humans!"

Desi raised a hand to her mouth, poorly concealing a growing smile. Link was not so easily distracted.

"If we don't get moving, you might see your first dead humans soon too. There a safe place out here?"

Her light dimmed, and she descended slightly, drifting to the side as she thought.

"Well, the Great Fairy's cave, but… Ooh, she's not too fond of outsiders. I dunno…"

It was a small chance, but one he had to snatch up while he could. He strode forward, hoping he was now facing her.

"Will you take us?"

Flueckli hovered backward. "Uhm…."

"We'd really love to meet more fairies," Desi added. "There aren't any in Hyrule anymore."

"Yeah! And we can tell you all about Hyrule too." Link saw from her radiant glow that he had struck her chord.

"I guess we can try! But we have to get moving now."

They moved.

* * *

By evening, their intense pace had run Link near senseless. Flueckli's energy, on the other hand, had scarce diminished.

"Wow, and you killed a bokoblin? So, so how did two people end up on the wrong side of the border? It's just been us for decades an' decades! I bet you're treasure hunters!"

"I think," Link said in between breaths, "I only want to tell that story once."

"Oh, I've been pestering you, haven't I? I do that sometimes. But soon you'll be able to rest, and it's cool, and-"

The fairy's chatter died to a mild hum in his mind. Every so often as they walked, he would glance behind, making sure nothing was following. Now, he saw the faintest of distortions shimmering on the horizon. He would have ignored it, but that same sense which drove him mercilessly forward warned of its danger.

"How much longer?" he said, cutting Flueckli off mid-sentence.

She made a distinct sniffing sound, then froze in mid-air. "Oh. We'll still make it. I think."

"What are you looking at?" Desi asked. Before Link could explain, the fairy had already started flying again. He had to run to keep up, and step by step Desi started lagging behind.

"Flueckli!"

"You're almost there," the fairy urged. "Just _come on!_"

She had flown up the side of a steep dune. Link grimaced, but followed without pause. His feet made scant purchase on the sliding slope, but he struggled forward. Desi scrambled valiantly below him.

He dropped to his knees, clawing his way up on all fours. The sand scalded his bare skin, and Link came closer to the top.

"Hurry, we can't let them see the entrance it's _right there_ just keep climbing come _on_-"

Link went back to ignoring her, for the moment.

Desi's hand clutched around his ankle, higher and higher as she pulled herself up his leg. Once she was high enough, he reached back and helped lift her to his side. She grimaced, sweat-drenched strands of brown hair trailing down to the sandy surface.

"You okay?" he asked.

She glared, and she nodded. Then she resumed the climb, with Link right beside her.

"-come on come on come on you're right there just a little bit tiny bit farther and YES!"

Flueckli flew around them three times, and then Link started to sink through the dune. Before he could react, the sand had covered his back. He struggled to push himself out, raised up his head to gasp in a last breath of air, and then sank beneath the sand.

For a moment, it was pressing in on all sides, smothering him. The next moment, he fell free, descending into a pit of utter darkness. Desi's gasp showed she was still there, and if he looked up he could see the fairy's glow hovering above him.

He was falling, but he did not even think to scream. It felt as though a cloud had filled his stomach, raising him buoyantly upward as the earth pulled him down. It was just enough to land him lightly on his feet a few seconds later. Desi touched down just beside him.

With solid ground beneath him once more, he finally noticed that this underground cavern was actually cool. Chilly even. Though an immense comfort after the past couple days, he hugged himself against the cold.

Ahead, braziers spaced perhaps a dozen feet apart gently illuminated a trail that descended deeper into the cavern. Beyond, he thought he heard a trickle of flowing water.

"C'mon," Flueckli said. "You should be safe here! If the bokoblins didn't see us too closely. But they were super far away. We should be fine. For a few more months anyway. But you'll be gone by then, so it's okay. Anyway, I should introduce you to the Great Fairy before she kicks you out or something. Ooh, better idea: you can have a bath and get food and stuff, and I'll let her know what's up. Come on!"

In the dim torchlight, Link and Desi exchanged glances. He'd hoped that arriving at a safe place would mean he could drop the weight on his back and sit down for a while. Seemed they had a bit more walking to do, however.

Desi's expression seemed more bemused than anything, however. "Oh come on, don't tell me you're not looking forward to being clean again."

He shrugged and followed the fairy down the path. He would have liked to have asked where exactly they were, but there was no room to talk through Fluecki's chatter.

They passed through a narrow arch into a wide open chamber, and it was there that Flueckli stopped.

"The pool's just down there," she said. "I'm off to the Great Fairy. Bye!"

Even in the dim light, he could see it, spread out over most of the cavern. Its surface was a dark sheen, with the firelight glinting off. Five paces forward, and he was at the edge, dropping his pack, removing his shirt. In this state, he no longer much cared what Desi might or might not see, or anyone else for that matter. He just needed to relax and feel clean.

After stripping down, he waded into the pool. The shock from the cold stole his breath, but he pressed forward, allowing the water to surround him and numb him. Sand and sweat seeped off, dirtying the water around him, which Link dispersed with a wave of his hand.

"Too bad we didn't think to pack soap," he said, only half-joking.

A small splash and stifled gasp heralded Desi's entrance to the pool. Careful to keep his back facing the entrance, Link lifted his feet from the stone bottom and hung suspended in the water. Then, with a deep breath, he submerged his head fully beneath the surface.

"I never thought it would feel this nice to be so uncomfortable," Desi breathed when he emerged. She swam past, cutting a sleek line through the water. He was almost jealous. He'd never had time to learn to swim more than the simple floating he was now doing. She made it seem so elegant, so freeing. But there would be time to learn later, after everything was settled. In the mean time, Flueckli would be back soon.

He pulled on the spare set of clothes he had packed, then began soaking his soiled clothes. He had been hesitant about packing that second set, but he was relieved he would not have to struggle back into all the grit that was washing off now he was finally clean.

"Hey, are you staring at me?" Desi called.

Link sighed, and deliberately lowered his head to his task. "No." What else would you say to a question like that.

From the middle of the pool came an exaggerated, disgruntled _harumph_. "What, are you saying I'm not pretty enough to stare at?"

Link sighed. "I am not playing this," he announced, then turned to wring out his soggy clothes.

"You're no fun," Desi grumbled a few minutes later. Link was kneeling now, waiting patiently for Flueckli, touching the rock that Aghreal had shown him.

"So you've said. Repeatedly." It was almost her catch phrase when they were hanging out with Zelda. "You threatened to make a sign about it."

Desi giggled. "Warning: epicenter of fun-free zone detected." She giggled some more. Link rolled his eyes.

Flueckli zoomed back in just then, stopping abruptly before the pair.

"Who _are_ you?" she said before they had a chance to say hi.

"I'm Desi, this is Link," Desi. "Don't you remember?"

"No, not that! I mean, just… Just come with me," she said, and for once she was silent as she guided them again through the cave.

They came to a large stone wall, etched with glyphs similar to those used in Ancient Hylian, but they seemed older somehow. Two grand torches of gold on either side spewed forth light.

Nearby, other faeries flew around. There were a number of other creatures too, that Link didn't recognize. Blue-skinned humanoid beings; stout, bulky things that spoke in low rumbles; and slender dark-skinned people who emanated a soft blue-ish green light.

A large _crack_ filled the room, and the wall split in two, revealing a passage to the chamber beyond.

"The Great Fairy will see you now," Flueckli said. "Alone."

Link and Desi exchanged glances. He wasn't sure whether this was supposed to feel ominous or welcoming? Was the Great Fairy an ally? Did she have the power to make his life miserable? To stop him? All he knew was that one of her creatures had led him hair, and let him bathe. There was no sense in wondering further. He took a deep breath, touched the rock, and entered.


	18. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

The chamber was still, the air stale. The echoes of his footfalls absorbed into the moss and died. Even Link's thoughts seemed to fade into nothingness. There were no decorations, no tapestries, no vibrant springs. There was only the Great Fairy.

She sat, resting almost, though in truth she had no need of rest. On anyone else, her bright red hair flowing down her back to coil on the ground would have roused attention. Her clothing of living ivy—covering little more than necessary—would have been alluring to the most stoic of sages, if not for her overwhelming serenity.

When she opened her eyes, Link felt he ought to kneel.

She rose, gently as a vapor from a tea kettle.

"Welcome Hylians," she said. "We have not seen your like in many an age."

"Thank you for sheltering us," Link replied.

She floated over to them and rested a hand on each of their faces. Her touch was cool. It seeped into Link's head and washed away the remnants of his unease. He no longer seemed to care that he had just killed a bokoblin, that he had been walking through the desert for days. It was not that his blisters healed or that the aches subsided from his body. They just didn't matter any more. He simply _was_.

"Welcome, Link. Welcome, Desi. Flueckli has told me of you, and from that I have guessed much. But I would hear your quest from your own lips. What brings two Hylians so far from home, to the heart of the Forgotten Realm?"

"We seek the Master Sword," he said, all reticence to speak of Zelda's plan gone in an instant. He knew he could trust her. She had been a friend for a very long time, longer than he could imagine.

"Speak, Link. There is but one reason to seek that sword. Speak! Tell me the doom which my heart fears has come to pass." Her voice quavered, but her eyes shone clear and true.

"Ganondorf has returned," he said. "The Gerudo have attacked Hyrule."

He told her as much as he knew, with Desi chiming in on some of the more recent developments. All the while, the fairy soaked them in with her gaze, as if they were the only two people in the world. When they were finished, she closed her eyes, inhaled a deep breath, and planted her feet on the ground.

"You have done well, Hylians," she said. "You are safe here. As safe as any being may be in these wastes. For an age and more have I sheltered my children here, and many beings besides. Never has any who sought shelter in my domain been harmed. Rest."

"The Master Sword-"

"-will not be found tonight, child. Tonight, share our bread. Tomorrow, you will know what it is to receive the aid of the Great Fairy."

She escorted them out of her room and introduced them to the various beings waiting outside.

He felt no shame in staring at them now, Gorons, Zora, and even an aged Twili from another world. All creatures said to have died out centuries ago, if they had ever existed at all. He felt no shame, for they stared back with just as much wonder.

It was a Goron who broke the silence. "Then welcome, brothers!" he said, clapping a large, stony hand on each of their shoulders. "An honor. I am Kharack, from the line of Darunia, who held Death Mountain against the evil king."

Link bowed slightly, not understanding the reference. Desi, beside him, gasped, and he resolved to ask her about it later. Then the others started crowding around, each eager to introduce himself. The faces replaced each other in a blur, and for all his effort Link could not remember one from another.

"Enough," the Great Fairy said at last. She laughed gently, a soothing ripple that spread out through the motley gathering and silenced them almost at once. "We did not invite these travelers to our cave, only to pester them to death. Let them eat, and tell their tale."

This pronouncement was met with general applause. They all proceeded deeper into the cave, while fairies darted down various side tunnels.

"They're off to rouse the others for dinner," Kharack explained, speaking in a low voice. We don't always eat together, but when we do… Well!"

The tunnel opened into a circular room, torches of blue flame spaced around the walls. Two Zora had just finished carrying in a large wooden table, and a swarm of fairies flew the food in.

Link had expected whatever the Great Fairy had to offer them to be meager. After all, there was only so much you could grow in a desert. He was wrong. He could pick out dates, prunes, and other fruit he couldn't recognize, along with several platters heaped with fish.

They fell in line for the food. He noticed it was mostly the Zora and the lone Twili standing there. The Gorons hung back to the sides, as though waiting. Link shrugged and moved to help himself.

There were no plates or silverware beyond the scant platters used to serve the food. Instead, he followed the Zoras' example, plucking up a fish with his hands. The heat of it nearly burnt his fingertips, but he held on, then snagged some dates with his free hand. Desi frowned and wrinkled her nose ever so slightly, but followed suit quick enough.

Hardly a feast, but it was filling and fresh. Within seconds Link had his mouth stuffed with scalding fish. Desi was somewhat more composed, nibbling at her portion as she tossed the hot fish from hand to hand.

"I'm surprised you can find this much food," she said.

"None of us expected it either," said a Zora next to them. "But the Great Fairy can do marvelous things for her children. Well, most of them." For a moment, it looked as though he were staring past them into a distant memory. Then he shook his head. "A pity it is not the season for salmon, or you might have a true feast."

Once his stomach was full, he and Desi began to tell them of their quest. Or rather, Desi did, mostly. Link was beginning to feel she rather enjoyed all the attention. If anything, she seemed even more energized by the tale, gesturing animatedly as she described Rusl's training.

"Oh, and before that Link and Zelda went to see a Sage! You wanna tell them that part, Link?"

"Not much to tell," he said. "Zelda took me out to a forest. Told everyone else it was a camping trip, but in the middle of the night we snuck off to see Sahasrahla."

Several of the audience gasped. "Sahasrahla?" "_The_ Sahasrahla?" "Still alive?"

Link waited for the whispers to die down.

"He said he'd been there for centuries," Link said. "You've heard of him?"

Desi shoved him. "Have you even _opened_ a history book?"

"His foresight saved Hyrule more than once," the Great Fairy explained. "Near the end, there was no Hylian more concerned for the plight of the more magical races. There are many here who revere him."

Link opened his mouth to ask "What end?" Then he closed it. They had been driven from their home, from a beautiful country, out into this wasteland. Of course they would call it an end. And the Gerudo… had been driven off in a different direction. Was Ganondorf their Great Fairy, then? Did he give them this comfort? Link supposed he would find out eventually.

After their story, a number of Zora started to play music, and they taught the Hylians a strange dance. Though he had walked all day, Link had no trouble keeping up with their energetic cadence. He leaped and kicked about with the most graceful of the dancers, and his muscles did not complain one bit. They felt free, as though he were finally putting them to use after hours of sitting down.

Desi did even better. She picked up on the pattern after seeing it just once, and even added her own improvisations that flowed naturally from the Zoras' style.

"You must dance with us again on your way back," the leader of the dance said. "Long has it been since I beheld such grace."

"Long has it been since I tasted such awesome fish!" Desi said in return. They laughed together.

After far too short a time, it was time to sleep. "Dawn comes early," the Great Fairy said, "and our guests have much ground yet to cover."

Flueckli led them down to a small room where she assured them they'd have a bit of privacy. "No pillows or any of that comfy stuff," she babbled as she flew. "The Great Fairy's awesome and all, but she's not that powerful. Of course, fairies don't really need that stuff, but I remember some of the Zora complaining. Gorons just sleep wherever. Whenever. It's so weird. I mean, I like naps too, but it's just… excessive, you know?"

Link nodded along until they finally found the room, and she bade them good night.

"Funny group," Desi said.

Link set down his pack and tried to arrange it into a pillow. No matter what he did, there always seemed to be something pointy sticking out, but eventually he found a tolerable configuration. The temperature was colder than he was used to, but somehow that didn't bother him. He just stretched his legs and let the chill lull him into a deep sleep.

Link woke to a gentle hand on his shoulder. The Great Fairy floated above him, smiling down, a single finger pressed on her lips. She beckoned, and Link followed, leaving Desi sleeping behind them.

They walked in silence until they entered the wide, cavernous chamber where they first met. The stone doors swung shut behind them, and the Great Fairy turned.

"I am sorry to disturb your rest, Link," she said. "I promise, you will feel no less energized for this disruption come morning."

Link inclined his head. "I know you wouldn't have brought me here if it wasn't important." It was hard to feel grumpy when he felt this light. Even though he had only gotten what he was sure was a couple hours of sleep, he felt like he could have run the rest of the way to the Master Sword right then.

"I have a gift for you, if you would take it," she said.

"What gift?"

"The gift of knowledge. The knowledge of ages." She extended her hand. "Will you take it? Will you learn of heroes past?"

Link extended his hand to take hers, then stopped. "You sound like there's a reason I would say no."

"It is polite to ask."

He waited a moment longer, then took her hand.

Instantly, his vision fill with stars, cascading across the night sky. He hovered in the void of space, neither moving nor breathing. He simply existed in a blissful serenity beyond comprehension.

Then a golden light descended from everywhere and nowhere all at once. Where it touched him, he fragmented, and hundreds of visions overwhelmed him at once. A young boy engaged in swordplay above the clouds. A scarred hero fought bandits from horseback. An adventurer pursued a prodigious thief underwater. A child sat in the forest and cried over the loss of a friend.

They all ended the same: the boy, the hero, the man driving a sword into the heart of darkness incarnate. And then, the stars. Always again the stars. Then the light returned, and he shattered once more.

On and on the cycle rolled, over a lifetime, or a dozen, or a thousand. At some point the boy from Miss Rebecca's orphanage became lost, and the new Hyrule forgotten. Who he was, he could not say. Did that even have an answer in this vision? The stars existed. The light existed. The heroes and the darkness and the love and the pain existed. That was enough. The avatar of evil rose to power, and a green-clad boy struck it down. Over and over. The cycle was neither good nor bad; it simply was. As he was, fragmented and torn among the stars.

An eternity passed, and then an eternity longer, and finally Link returned to the boy in the Great Fairy's cavern. His memory extended from his entrance, back through the desert voyage, all the way back to his earliest days in the orphanage. The fragments remained in his head. He could not recall them. He could not even picture the face of the foe he had defeated time and time again. But they were there, and they were his. They were _him_.

He opened his eyes.

"Are you well?" the Great Fairy asked.

Link considered. He felt stretched, somehow, a tiredness that went beyond exhaustion. But already the Great Fairy's presence began to transform him, sliding the fatigue off, buoying him up.

"Yes," he said. "I think I should thank you, but I don't know why. Does that make sense?"

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I understand completely. Now rest. Dawn comes early."

* * *

**A/N:** A question for anyone reading: where do you think the Great Fairy is with respect to Hyrule? The Gerudo who are attacking Hyrule? Just trying to get a feel for how well I've been communicating certain things.


	19. Chapter 17

**A/N: **Not dead!

* * *

**Chapter 17**

When Link rose, fully rested and bubbling with energy, his watch only read 3:30. Though only a thin blanket had separated him from his bed of stone, he had none of the aches that would follow an uncomfortable sleep. He did not even feel like yawning.

Desi woke shortly after, and they followed the dark tunnel up to the main chamber in silence. There, they saw Gorons pulled tight into living boulders, slumbering against the walls. Other creatures lay strewn here and there. Some cuddled together. Others slept alone. Link suspected it was the will of the Great Fairy that he wake while the others remained asleep. He couldn't say why, but he suspected it all the same.

A bowl of fruit awaited them in the center. They nibbled at it, though in this place Link felt little need for sustenance. He knew he would miss it as soon as he stepped out into the desert, however, so he ate.

When they were finished, the stone doors to the Great Fairy's chamber swung silently open. The Great Fairy floated out, illumined in a dull light. She beckoned; Link and Desi followed.

They stopped before a passage they had not seen before. The walls seemed perhaps a touch more jagged, but all in all it was much like everything else in the cave: dark, simple, functional.

"My domain ends here," the Great Fairy said. "This tunnel will lead you to the Temple of Time. Desi, my child, this task is not yours. Should you choose to remain, you will find a welcome home here."

Desi paused, then shook her head. "If the Master Sword will bring Zelda back, then I will go and get it." Link wondered how she could summon such fierceness deep in this sanctuary of peace.

The Great Fairy turned to him. "Link-"

"I know my duty."

She smiled, then, but her eyes held fear and sorrow.

"There is a reason we are here and not in the temple," she warned. "Servants of evil have overrun it. As you have seen, not all beings banished to the desert were such as I."

Back in Hyrule, this might have concerned him. Outside the Great Fairy's presence, he might have despaired at this power which could break even her. But that was not the case.

"If I do not go, then it will be Hyrule which is overrun."

She laughed, then. A clear laugh with a high peal, slicing through the dark morning. "Ah, the nobility of youth! How long since I have known its spark. She knelt and kissed his brow. At the brush of her lips, a fire rippling through him, and it was all he could do to keep a blushing smile from ruining the solemnity of the moment.

"May the heart of Farore buoy you through the hell that awaits. May the love of Nayru envelop you, and guard you from evil. May the arms of Din lend strength to your own, and make you mighty. Retrieve what was lost, and set right what is wrong."

"My life for the will of the Goddesses," he intoned, his lips pulling the ritual response from an unknown memory.

She turned to Desi."I say again: this task is not for you. But it is a fool who spurns help freely given, especially from such as you." She kissed her forehead too, and Desi gasped as she made contact. "Your love burns as bright as the fires of Din in the void between dimensions. Let none say it is a weakness, for by this may the tide of battle perhaps be turned."

"Th- thank you, Great Fairy."

She looked at each of them, once more. "Look after each other, and come back safe."

They turned and began walking down the tunnel, guided by their flashlights.

"Told you we'd need light," Desi said once the glow of the Great Fairy dimmed behind them.

"No one likes a sore winner, Desi."

She laughed. Cackled, really. Link rolled his eyes and kept walking. His legs didn't really start to feel strain until an hour into the hike, and even then it was nothing he couldn't live with. Fresh from the Great Fairy's aura, and surrounded by cool stone, they made much better progress than they had struggling over the shifting sand. Or at least it felt that way. If judging distance in a flat desert was hard, it was nearly impossible when you couldn't see more than three feet in front of you.

Desi wanted to have a walking lunch to get there faster, but Link stubbornly plopped down against the side of the tunnel. The ten minutes it took to eat wouldn't matter much, and he meant to fully enjoy it. Sighing, Desi sat down next to him.

"You're lucky I've seen so many horror movies," she said. "Some of us know better than to split up."

Link did not get to reply; his mouth was stuffed with jerky, and by the time he swallowed she had moved on to a different topic entirely.

Three hours after their lunch break, Link began to feel a breeze. He scowled. More desert was the last thing he wanted to see. But he supposed he'd have to if he ever wanted to get the Master Sword.

They found the end of the passage half an hour later. Trails of sunlight poked through a decaying wooden door, occasionally rattling from a gentle breeze. Link raised a cautious hand, nudged it open, then slammed it back shut.

"What's wrong?" Desi asked.

"Found the temple."

"And?"

"It's really close." He could even make out the heads of the bokoblins patrolling on the roof. "We should wait for darkness. We come running out now they'll see for sure. They have slings or bows, we're dead before we reach the front door."

"Um… Link?"

"Of course, if they're really paying attention we're doomed either way. But if you stand guard on a broken temple in an abandoned desert long enough, you're going to get complacent. And then you die."

Desi placed her hand on his shoulder and shook. Link barely noticed.

"Get what sleep you can. When night comes, we move fast, we move hard. Things go right, they won't know we're there until I get the sword." He grinned. "And after that, we'll have little to fear."

"Link, shut up!"

He froze.

"What the hell? Where's the wimpy little kid from Hyrule? Two days ago you were freaking about about killing just two of them."

He thought. He didn't feel like he'd changed much. If anything, he was more himself than ever before. But he grabbed hold of his inner rock, and in the maelstrom of his schemes and plots, he heard a small voice, hesitant and shaking.

"Is this really important to talk about right now?"

"What else are we going to do? And don't tell me to go to sleep. It's not even five yet."

Link sighed, but before he could think how to explain, a voice rang out from his pack.

"He was touched by the Great Fairy, weren't you, Link?" Flueckli shot up and began whizzing around their heads, as though to make up for being silent and still all day. "She can do that, you know."

"She touched both of us," Desi said. At the same time, Link asked "Does the Great Fairy know you're here?"

"She is not my mother," Flueckli said, shaking herself vigorously. "And I don't mean like _touch_ touching. It's… gaaah, non-magical creatures are so hard to talk to!"

Link closed his eyes and let the boy come back to the front. "She reminded me of some things," he said, forcing himself to relax against the wall. "Who I used to be before…" He paused, searching for the word, then shrug. "Before I wasn't."

"That clears things up," Desi muttered.

"The important thing is that we're here, and we're gonna get the Master Sword and the Temple of Time back!" Flueckli said. "So what's the plan?"

Link stared at her, fighting back a glare as a headache built up. "I think we should start by going to sleep, and you can go back to the Great Fairy."

"Link, that's rude!" Desi said.

"I can come if I want," Flueckli said. "Why can't I go on an adventure too? Just because I'm a fairy?"

Link opened his mouth, but she talked over him.

"You don't get to try to protect me. That's my home over there, and I want it back. I'm not even slowing you down, because I can fly way faster. I know the bokoblins better than you, I know the Temple better than you, and I can totally go recon the place without anyone seeing me. Need a diversion? I'm on it. So tell me, Mr. Hero, what's so special about you that you can go fight, but I can't?"

She hovered before his eyes, wings flittering madly. He could not meet her gaze. He had no response to give. At first he had thought she was just too stupid to be of use, but the fairy knew what they were getting into probably better than he did.

"I'm sorry, Fueckli. I judged too quickly."

Her light flickered. "Huh. I thought Hylians were supposed to be unreasonable. So what's the plan?"

"Sleep," he grumbled. Then he leaned his head back and did just that.

* * *

Link's watch read 9 pm. Still some moments before the sun was fully extinguished, then. No reason to wake Desi, yet. He stretched his sleep away as silently as he could manage. Beside him, Flueckli fluttered awake and perched on his shoulder. With an exaggerated motion, Link placed a finger on his lips, then cast a meaningful glance at the sleeping girl. Flueckli bobbed up and down in silent acknowledgement.

For the next half hour, Link enjoyed the serene rock Aghreal had shown him. He felt the drying sweat that stuck his shirt to his skin, the cold rock wall behind him, and the dry wind that blew the occasional gust of sand through the door. He felt them, savored them, and let them go. His heart screamed to race, but the still evening soothed it.

Then it was time. He woke Desi with a gentle nudge, and they shared a muted dinner.

"Ready?" he asked. Desi nodded, her mouth drawn to a small line. He turned to Flueckli.

"Been waiting for years," she said.

Link explained the plan. Just because it was dark and the guards wouldn't be paying attention, didn't mean they were going to be stupid. They would move slowly and hug the ground. Their packs would only add extra bulk to their outlines; they would be stripped of the bare essentials and left behind. Flueckli would hide under Link's shirt (she giggled, cut off by glares from the two Hylians). Her glow would just be a giant warning flare, otherwise.

The temple's front door would be the obvious entrance—the obviously wrong entrance, that is. If the bokoblins expected intruders—and it would stupid to assume they didn't—that door would be more heavily guarded, watched, and trapped than any other part, save perhaps for the chamber where the Master Sword lay. So Link and Desi would circle around until they found some other way in.

"Big stained glass windows all around," Flueckli offered. "We could always make an entrance."

Link nodded. "An entrance, or a diversion maybe." Of course, it would be better if an entrance had already been made, but again, there was no point in being stupid about things.

"This is going to suck," Link concluded. "Be slow, be careful, and if you see a way to kill any without wasting bullets, do it."

It was fully dark by the time they emerged. Not even the moon lit the night. A flickering torch by the temple's gates and the distant starlight was all they hand to work with. Hugging the ground, Link began to pull himself forward.

It took all of ten seconds for Link to become fully miserable. The still-warm sand had creeped into every opening in his clothing and scraped against his exposed skin. Beside him, Desi pushed herself up on her elbows, doubtless to get away from the sand. Link took her by the head and pressed her back down. She resisted, but only for a moment.

"Sorry." Her voice was just the hint of a whisper. Link squeezed her hand, hoping to reassure her, then continued forward.

Forty minutes, seven breaks, and millions of sand particles later, they pressed up against a side wall of the temple. There, only a guard looking straight down would see them. Even then, he would likely only see vague shadows. Certainly nothing to cause an alarm. Link sidled along the wall, fingers probing for a broken windows. Desi followed beside, her leg overlapping his so he'd always know she was there.

As Flueckli had said, the temple had windows a-plenty. Some even had small holes that an apple just might be able to fit through. He had passed by three already. As he came to the fourth, he thought he saw a shadow moving about within. He stepped back. They would crawl under, rather than risk being seen.

But just as he moved from the window, it shattered. A sword protruded from the now empty space. Without thinking, Link lunged. His hands closed on a pair of thin, bony wrists.

Desi was only seconds behind. She leapt to his aid, pummeling the creature holding the sword in a fierce barrage of punches. Its hands loosened, and Link had the sword. The tip slid easily through window, into the chest of the bokoblin inside. It died with a faint whimper.

They had their entrance, but Link paused. Things just shouldn't die that easily. It wasn't right. But he had killed bokoblins before, and they stood between him and the Master Sword, so he forced the feeling away. He could deal with it later. Sometime when a mistake didn't mean death.

He probed the outline of the broken window with the sword, making sure the hole was large enough. Something larger would have made him more comfortable, but it would do. He crawled through, keeping his elbows tucked to his side. He fell to the ground on the other side, then motioned Desi through.

"Flueckli," he whispered. "Out."

She rose out of his shirt. "Aren't I supposed to be invisible?"

"I'm not going to explore this thing completely blind," Link said. "Besides, you know where we're going, right?"

"Er, if they haven't moved it. But I don't think they could. I mean… it's the Master Sword. Evil isn't supposed to be able to touch it."

Link was only halfway paying attention. He examined the room under Flueckli's dim glow. Fragments of battered armor lay scattered about. Cobwebs laced the ceiling, and a thick blanket hung from each corner. Curious, he pushed one aside with the tip of his new sword. Behind it, in a pile of dirt, lay two black bulbs almost the size of his head. He stooped down to examine it.

"Link!" hissed Flueckli. He stopped. "By Din's flame, back up." Sensing the danger in her voice, he obeyed.

"Those are bomb flowers," she explained.

"Bomb… flowers?"

"You pick them, they blow up in like five seconds."

"That sounds useful," Desi said, an eager edge to her voice.

"No. Absolutely not. They are not useful. They are deadly. You don't know how sensitive they are. You don't know the delay."

"You said it was five seconds," Link said.

"Five seconds if maintained by expert Goron craftsmen under ideal conditions, not blumbering Bokoblins inside a sacred temple. Please, please, please, if you value your lives, or your princess, or your country, or anything at all, don't mess with bomb flowers!"

Link nodded and resisted the urge to wipe sweat from his brow. Her explanation alone made him nervous. Desi nodded too, as he knew she would. She was wild, and a bit air-headed at times, but that didn't mean stupid.

"Only one door that I see," he said. "Shall we?"

The hinges creaked as they opened, but there were no other sounds. He saw a few sleeping bokoblins as Flueckli led them through an expansive hall, but their numbers were small. Hardly enough to say the temple was 'overrun.' So either the Great Fairy had exaggerated, many of the monsters had died off, or there was something he didn't know. He grasped his pistol in his left hand.

The chamber was thankfully sparse. It had been a temple, after all, with all the barren simplicity of ancient Hylian architecture. The only obstacles to avoid were the slumbering bokoblins, and Flueckli led him carefully around them. The single feature of the room was a chest-high slab. He couldn't see the details, but he made note of it in case he needed to take cover from arrows.

Flueckli stopped before an opening to a passageway. "Through here," she whispered. "At least, I hope so."

Link nodded. Only one way to find out. He crept forward, careful to stay in Flueckli's light. But when the passage opened into another chamber, a high merciless snicker froze him in place. A torch flared to life before him, revealing a bokoblin most unlike the others. He stood half again as tall as Link, and while the assorted beasts of the desert expressed only a dumb fury, Link stared into this creature's eyes and saw cold, reasoned malice.

Link and Desi drew their pistols, but before they could fire, Flueckli screamed.

"Powder kegs!" Her sharp voice assaulted his ears, and he cringed away. But at the same time, he looked. Row and rows of barrels lined the back wall. Trails of a strange black powder trickled from many of them.

"They explode, don't they?" Of course they did. Why had he expected this to be easy?

The bokoblin cackled again, then stepped to the side. As he did so, an arrow whizzed by Link's head, narrowly missing his ear.

Finally, he took action. "Keep their heads down," he yelled at Desi, leaping to the side. He cursed himself; they'd been standing stock still for at least five seconds. Stupid, stupid.

The pistol rang out behind him, accompanied by surprised cries of bokoblins. No time to celebrate. He charged the monster in front of him, sword clenched tight in his hands. It swung first, and its reach was longer. Link could do nothing but roll under the strike and come to his feet too far away to do anything.

For some reason, his foe did not pursue. Then Link saw why. He stood in front of a pedestal. A pedestal which housed a sword. Link charged again.

The bokoblin readied his weapon, but that didn't matter. Link no longer stood opposite a wall lined with powder kegs. As Desi continued firing down the passageway, Link stopped running, raised his pistol, and fired three shots into his opponent. Then, for good measure, he ran his sword through the stunned monster's heart.

"Almost done," he called to Desi.

"Hurry up."

Desi fired again. Another arrow sailed past her.

"Are you done yet?" she grunted.

Link crossed the final two steps to the pedestal and wrapped his fingers around the sword's hilt. It fit perfectly, as though he were clasping the hand of a very old friend. He pulled. As the sword emerged, the blade erupted in blinding light, and Link was pulled from the realm of the living.

* * *

**A/N:** That was the first dungeon crawl I've ever written. How'd it turn out?


	20. Chapter 18

**A/N:** The first part of this chapter is written for me, not for you, and it shows. To start someplace sane, Ctrl-F 'Pain'.

**Chapter 18**

Link stood alone, atop a tower of black stone. The sides of the tower were nineteen, the edges sharp as any sword. Far below him, lightning flashed. Link peered over the edge, somehow piercing through the swirling cloud layer, down to a field of ever-blooming roses.

He cast his gaze outward. The flowers gave way to hard, dry earth. A land of desperation, where only the most stubborn remained to survive. Across this desert, fled a man in black. A gunslinger followed, his pace stolid and inexorable.

Link turned to a different direction. The desert became a void. A monstrous mockery of the moon, swarming with robotics and alien life, barreled through space. In its path hovered a small and empty being. It let out a final plea, and ignited.

He turned a final time. A mountain stood above a barren waste, leaking fire. Two creatures, smaller even than Desi, stood on the side. With a shout, the one hefted the other on his shoulders, staggered, and pushed himself forward step after agonizing step. The dry wind fell still.

"The world is moving on, swordsman," echoed a timeless voice. Three crones stood before him on the peak of the tower, robed in colors of red, and green, and blue. Age lined their faces and pulled at their shoulders, but they stood firm of their own power. "The world passes, but still you return to the sword of the elder days."

"I need it to beat Ganon." The words felt strange in his mouth. They lacked the steel of the hero of his memories. He yearned to let that man take over, but he was but an untouchable fragment, locked beyond his consciousness.

The crones exchanged glances. A telepathic wave of despair and scorn exploded from their center, and then they recovered.

"He doesn't know."

"The prophecies are lost."

"The world moves on."

They considered him, then spoke as one. "Magic fades, and then also life. Soon must even the Golden Goddesses fade from being, and then there remains only the White. The White, and the other."

"Ganon?"

"So is he known to you. This tower will fall to him, and then will all be for naught."

"When?" Link asked. Sahasrahla had said nothing of this. Zelda had said nothing of this. None had even mentioned a tower.

"It matters little. Ganon will prevail."

"When?" Link repeated, his suspicion mounting.

The one in the middle, the blue one—no, let him name them as they were. _Nayru_ shrugged. "Perhaps a millennium. Perhaps five. It all comes to the same."

Link frowned. "I… really don't care." All three goddesses stared at him, and he fidgeted under their gaze. "I mean… I'm not even gonna be alive then. I just want to keep my friends safe."

Farore reached out to her sister's arm. "This is what we made him to be," she chided.

Nayru closed her eyes and sighed. "So it is. Worries of the future were always the princess's burden."

"A pity she so seldom thought to bear it," Farore snapped.

Nayru's eyes blazed, but before she could retort, Din forced them apart. "Sisters! Our hero stands before us. What shall we give him?"

They turned to each other and spoke a word.

* * *

Pain radiated from Link's hand through his entire body. The price of the Goddesses' mark. In her hopeless prison, Zelda writhed under the additional psychic onslaught. _At least this is new_, she thought, bitterly. Ganondorf considered the back of his right hand, frowned, and burst into laughter. His left hand smashed into a concrete wall and clutched the rebar within as he schooled his face into a neutral expression.

Light erupted from Zelda's fist, and everything clicked into place. He did it. He got the sword. Hyrule would be saved. She beamed through the pain, drawing glares from her captors, but that would not matter much longer.

Ganondorf spoke an order, and one hundred Hylians fell dead.

Link fought his way through the sensations, the visions, focusing everything on the bare stone beneath him until after an eternity everything faded and he was alone.

The solitude did not last. Moments later, the Triforce of Courage glowed on his hand, then Irene stood before him.

She stared at him, then blinked. "Dammit," she deadpanned.

"Lovely to see you again too." At any other time, he probably would have been undergoing a serious freakout. After touching a sword of legend and seeing two goddesses taking pot shots at each other, however, he remained unphased.

Flueckli popped in shortly after, then Aghreal. The Gerudo calmly looked around, eyebrows slightly furrowed, but before he could greet her, Rusl appeared. Finally, Kafei flickered into existence as a cry escaped his mouth.

Link rushed over to him. "Are you okay? What happened?"

Kafei looked up, shook his head, and slowly removed his hand from his side.

"Link! You…" He paused, blinking. "This is Zelda's doing?" Some of the roughness seemed to seep out of his voice.

Link nodded. "Kinda, yeah."

He laughed gently, relaxing his shoulders and letting himself fall to the floor. "I thought I was insane for playing along. Link, whatever you're up to, I'm proud. Proud to have been a part of it."

"Yo, let's save the family reunion 'till after we get some answers, yeah?" Irene cut in, snapping her fingers. One minute I'm in class doing a titration. The next I'm… wherever the hell this is."

"And why do you have a sword?" added Rusl.

Link did his best to go over all the had happened, the truth of his destiny. As he explained it to his friends, the ones he knew from his normal life, he almost didn't believe it. But the Master Sword gave proof to his tale, as well as the shining triangle on his left.

"If I had to guess," he concluded, "you are Hyrule's new Sages."

"I thought there were supposed to be seven," Aghreal said.

"There _are_ supposed to be seven," Flueckli muttered. And then everyone turned to look at Link as if _he_ had any idea what was going on.

"Zelda," he said. "But-" The contents of the vision crashed back into his mind. "Ganondorf. He has her. He's… blocking her, or something. He-" Link cut himself off before he got too worked up. Deep breaths circulated through his body like gentle waves eating away the edge of a beach.

Kafei raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure? I've heard nothing…"

"I'm not sure of anything," Link said. "But I think we should assume she is."

They all paused to digest this.

"And the seventh?" Rusl asked.

The world began to flicker. A man's faint voice echoed up from below.

"The Goddesses will show us," Link said.

A great crack deafened them. The tower they stood on rumbled, and those with legs flailed to remain standing.

"Or they will not," he continued.

The light remaining in that transient world dimmed to an utter darkness, and the stone beneath him began to fade.

"We'll fight anyway."

* * *

When Link next opened his eyes, he was kneeling outside the gates of Hyrule castle. Desi _thudded_ to the ground beside him. Flueckli remained far too close to his face.

"Link, are we dead?" Desi asked. He helped her up.

"We're home."

As she lifted her eyes, an energetic grin illuminated her face. She lunged forward, clutching him in a fierce hug. "And you have the sword! We did it."

He gently pushed her away, wrinkling his nose. "If we have to hug, let's shower first."

* * *

It took an hour to walk back home. A week ago, that would have seemed ridiculous. Now, it was all but trivial. They came to the intersection where their ways would part and paused.

"My parents are gonna kill me," Desi tittered.

Link thought of Anju. He was not looking forward to the return either.

"They'd have to get close enough to smell you, first."

She punched his shoulder. "You're mean."

"You're filthy."

Link went right, Desi went left. When she was out of sight, he stopped. He could feel the Sages in his mind, connected by tenuous threads. And they were coming. They were all coming save for the two caught behind the dark veil in the southern desert.

"You're not even going home?" Flueckli said.

Link shook his head. "I'd just have to say good-bye again. I have everything I need."

"Desi probably thinks she's going south with you."

"Let her think it. It'll keep her quiet." He shrugged. "What's the Hylian Army gonna do with someone who barely knows how to shoot?"

"You could at least tell her," she said, a few seconds later.

"We'll have time for talk at the end," he said. Then he looked up, for the Sages were approaching.

Irene's sportscar turned around the corner and stopped beside him.

"You reek," she said. Beside her, Aghreal wrinkled her nose.

"You'll smell the same in a bit," Link said, climbing in the back next to Rusl.

"I'm Flueckli. Nice to meetcha!" the fairy said. Rusl raised an eyebrow.

"So I wasn't insane after all."

They all laughed at that. Even Aghreal cracked a smile. As the mirth bubbled up in the car, Link let himself sink back into the seat. He was gone from the Temple. He was safe.

"Does anyone have any business left in Castle Town?" Rusl asked. Link felt the man eying him, but he remained staring forward, as if he hadn't heard.

"Then let's roll," Irene said, when it became clear no one would answer. She put the car in drive, and they were off to war.

* * *

**A/N:** The final part is about to begin. It's going to get darker. If you are easily triggered, I suggest you stop reading here.

There's going to be a bit of a delay before the next chapter. I'll be removed from civilization from a time, and when I get back I want to write ahead a bit, to be sure I'm not putting myself in a corner I can't escape from.


	21. Interlude II

**Interlude**

Zelda had only been Nabooru's prisoner for two weeks, but she could already feel her defiance draining away. The Gerudo made no demands, gave no disrespect or mistreatment. She ate three full-if bland-meals each day, and she slept in a queen-sized bed each night.

If she was not mistreated, she was not well-treated either. The run-down hotel room that served as her prison had no furnishings save the bed. The white-washed walls were so faded as to be almost gray. With no books or communications, her only cures for crippling _ennui_ were exercise and meditation.

She was three minutes into a wall-sit when the lock on her door clicked. The knob rotated, the door wiggled back and forth, and with the _thud_ of a fist striking wood the door burst inward.

Nabooru entered, carrying a tray laden with a teapot and a pair of cups. "I see you are still taking care of yourself," she said.

Zelda took a deep breath to combat a surge of fury at the sight of the traitor. She rose from the wall, assuming the regal posture Nabooru and her father had drilled into her since she could walk.

"Please come to your point."

Nabooru chuckled and drew a collapsible stand from beneath the tray. "Manners, Princess. You have nothing to gain by antagonizing me." She straightened the tray on the stand and began to fill a cup from a teapot. "Tea?"

"Not from you."

Nabooru arched an eyebrow. "As you wish. You realize I have nothing against you, yes?"

"In Hylian culture, kidnapping is _not_ an act of goodwill."

Nabooru poured out a second cup and balanced it on Zelda's bed. "I confess to disappointment with how events unfolded. But surely you agree that certain ideals weigh more than personal friendship."

Like how she had used Link. Memories of the boy pushed into her mind. She had disrupted the flow of his life just as violently as Nabooru had done to her. The soft tingling of the Triforce of Wisdom on her hand proved her action had been necessary. Even now, she felt its two siblings: one a crackling storm of hatred coalescing to the south, the other a flaming arrow, flying toward her from the opposite direction.

Zelda glared at Nabooru. "What do you want?"

"Soon Ganondorf will summon you. I have advice, if you would listen."

Zelda blinked. Nabooru had no reason to want to help to her. Whatever she had to say was sure to benefit only the Gerudo.

Still, _any_ information would be more useful than none, no matter how biased.

"I'm listening." She drank from her teacup to show an attempt at cooperation. Herbal black cherry, the kind she'd shared with her father while discussing "Royal Business". The scent of home eased her headache and unclenched her shoulders.

"You've realized you are not a bargaining tool?" Nabooru asked.

Zelda nodded. "Of course. A completed Triforce trumps a princess," she said. And f they wanted to use her as leverage, they would have had cameras in her face from the start.

"And you have also considered that, not being for bargaining, you lose certain... protections?"

The teacup froze halfway to her mouth.

Nabooru continued: "Ganondorf is the most powerful… no, powerful is the wrong word. Your father is powerful, but take away his title, his wealth, and he is just a man. I am powerful right now because I control your food and water. Once I hand you over, I become just another Gerudo.

"Lock my king in your most secure dungeon, sever his hands, bind him with a thousand chains, and he will still be the most powerful man in the mortal realm."

She stared at Zelda, but the princess kept her mind still and waited, determined to display only the reactions she chose.

"Weakness cannot be an option if you wish to salvage anything," Nabooru continued. "The war will end, and Hyrule will still need a princess. Impressions go far. If you appear as a porcelain toy, then that is how he shall treat you. Do you understand?"

Zelda took a sip of tea to buy herself a few seconds. She'd expected captivity from the beginning: a beautiful princess locked in an isolated tower, shrouded from the world until her inevitable rescue, fed cold, minimal meals of gristle and gruel. She'd prepared for all of that. She'd even rehearsed standing before Ganondorf.

Still, she had not followed events to their logical conclusion until now.

"If he's as strong as you say-" _as strong as the legends say _"-then I _am_ little more than a toy, to him." The dryness of her throat gave her voice a touch of rawness, and she cursed her weakness.

Nabooru set her cup back on the tray, a scowl darkened her face. "I refuse to believe you are this stupid. Look past your fear and think again. The task is yours. Solve the puzzle, or fail. I've strained my loyalties far enough today." She collected Zelda's cup and turned toward the door.

At the rebuke, Zelda seized back her strength, filling her mind with cold reason. Her fear had diminished her for a moment. Now she was on guard against it.

"Thank you for you counsel," she said.

Nabooru paused to look over her shoulder. "You have until your chosen hero arrives, princess. Then we shall see what your training is worth."

* * *

**A/N:** So I'm not dead. We shouldn't have a break this long again. Sorry. The next chapter is already written, just need to fix... well pretty much everything.


	22. Chapter 19

_Still not dead.  
_

**Chapter 19**

It was 4:30 in the morning, and Link sat in the lobby of _The Last Homely House_ with a cup of coffee. His free hand rubbed futilely at his forehead in a failed attempt to dissolve his pinched drowsiness. He had not planned to be conscious for another three hours.

From the back of his hand, Ganon's wrath flooded out. Today, the battle started.

He glanced up as Aghreal passed by. Her brow furrowed over sharp eyes as she strode through the lobby. She greeted him with a nod, before moving past the reception desk and out the front doors. He was thankful she had not passed close enough to see his trembling hand.

"Got another pot ready in five minutes," the receptionist said, rolling a tray of food into the room. He was a balding, older fellow with a hunched back, and did not seem at all put out to be working the graveyard shift. "Running low on sweetener, though. Soldiers sap us dry when they take leave up here."

Link nodded aimlessly, his mind elsewhere. He could not cut past the doubt. The little muscle he'd built had vanished during his quest for the Master Sword, and the spirit of the dead hero had not stirred in days. Zelda would be able to reassure him, but the Princess had vanished, likely captured by the Gerudo.

He finished the rest of his coffee in a single, burning gulp and went outside to talk to Aghreal. Perhaps she could put him at ease.

He found her standing rigidly outside the motel, feet planted before the single cracked street that ran through the town.

"You're up early," he said.

Aghreal twisted back to look at him, arms crossed. "Hylians have a gift for stating what is obvious." Her scowl cracked as he approached to stand next to her. "Am I doing it right?"

Link sighed. Gerudo humor.

She turned her gaze forward. "I've been doing some research." Her voice dropped into a rapid, pinched cadence. "Since the fighting started, this town has seen its assault rate rise by twenty-three percent. Rape by nearly two hundred."

"The Gerudo have gotten around the army?" Why hadn't there been any of news of that? Surely they would have heard it on the radio, at least.

She gave him the same level stare she had when he got the order of operations wrong.

"The _Hylian _soldiers-!" Link said.

"You are surprised?"

"But... they're Hylian."

"And thus morally superior. Right."

Link blushed. "It's just... I mean, why do you think they'd go around attacking civilians? They're-"

Irene stormed out of the motel, cup of coffee raised to her face in mid-gulp. She swore. "The hell's the point of being a morning person if every other blasted imbecile is gonna be awake and ruin it?" She wore a dirty-brown tank top, with her hair tied back in a tail.

"Morning," Link replied, faking an over-bright grin.

"Well if you're going to stand around making me miserable, you can at least bloody well help." She stormed to her car, muttering all the way, and flung open the hood.

"We were trying to have a conversation." Aghreal said.

"Oh, don't mind me then. I'm just making sure we have a desert-worthy vehicle. Since, you know, we'll be driving through a flaming desert. Talk while you hold shit."

"You have no toolbox for this task?" Aghreal said.

"_Somebody_ stepped through it."

Link cringed.

"Or, hell, if you wanna abandon me to do it all by myself, be lazy, that's cool. Ain't _my_ quest."

Link and Aghreal exchanged glances.

Irene positioned them by the hood of the vehicle, then grumbled her way to the back and began pulling out tools.

"Think about which people dropped out to enlist when the fighting started," Aghreal said. Most of them had been seniors, so Link didn't know anyone who had actually decided to become a soldier. But he and Desi had attented every one of Rusl's recruitment meetings. The most common attendees—besides himself—had been Mike and Groose.

Aghreal continued. "Now take thousands of people like that, keep them in a small area, put them in charge of themselves, and destroy their morale. Is this result surprising at all?"

Irene sidled past, distributing tools en route. Link ended up with a crescent wrench, a small mallet, and a soiled cloth.

"What's the hammer for?" he asked.

"Hitting stuff." She gestured them back and began to jack up the front of the car.

Link turned back to Aghreal. "Makes sense, I suppose. I see what you're saying. But... what's your point?"

"Do you not care? These monsters would be our allies. Are you just going to condone this? There must be justice."

"Okay. Justice. How would we do that?"

Aghreal exhaled, keeping her gaze locked on some unknown point beyond the motel. "That's what I came outside to ponder."

"Here's what I think: If the military wants to cover things up, there's not a lot we can do to stop them. But I know Zelda, and this is something she would care about more than you. And she _can_ do stuff. Like, princess stuff. So we just have to rescue her, and then she can fix..." He gestured vaguely at the dying town. "This."

"Wrench," Irene demanded, from beneath her car. Link lowered the tool into her protruding hand.

"I am trying to decide whether that is a brilliant deflection, or if you merely follow the simplest idea."

Link shrugged. "Good ideas can be simple."

"You'd know all about that," Irene muttered. "Gimme the rag." She held out the wrench, and Link made the exchange for her.

"I am uncomfortable with ignoring problems, Link," Aghreal said.

"Catch." The rag flew from under the car, and Link caught it on the head of the mallet. Irene pulled herself out from beneath the vehicle and began tinkering with components inside the hood.

"You ignored negative arithmetic, and we spent weeks ripping apart your foundations," Aghreal continued. "If we ignore an issue of this scale..."

He still marveled that she could speak for so long and still maintain that distant, almost listless gaze. It was part of her skill at concentration. He had never met anyone who could hold onto a single idea so fervently. That was what made her such a powerful ally. But he needed her focused on the _correct_ idea.

"If we try to fix a problem like this, we give Ganon time to invade further. We're lucky he hasn't broken past Kasuto yet." He drew on the Hero's memories like they were his own. The stench of decay and death that had first greeted him in the ruins of the Castle Town of old made him pause and recenter. "The survivors will become slaves. The dead, his fell army."

Link shook his head to clear it. The Hero had been silent for days. He had no reason to be talking like that.

Aghreal continued her gaze in silence. Irene shut the lid of her car, then collected up her tools as she passed by.

"We will return to this," Aghreal said.

Link nodded. A corner of his mind rebelled at being roped into yet another crusade, but Kasuto and Zelda held the bulk of his attention. Everything else could fall later.

Rusl stepped out of the motel with a cup of coffee. Kafei emerged behind him, leaning on a crutch. He wore the green dress uniform of the Hylian Army, similar to Link's tunic, but embroidered with his name in red thread. A small formation of medals cascaded down his chest.

"Are we leaving earlier than planned?" Rusl said.

"Kafei! I wasn't expecting you up here. What are you doing?"

He grimaced. "Finding things out. Or I was, anyway. Looks like that's changing now. Do you have a plan?"

Link nodded.

"Since damn _when_?" Irene said, whirling on him.

Even Rusl looked down on him with clear disapproval. "Link, clear channels of communication are one of the most import elements of an effective force."

"I only thought of it last night," Link said, forcing back an edge of annoyance. He knew he wasn't the brightest person in the group, but he did know to keep people informed, at least. Back in the orphanage, he'd been even better at that than Miss Rebecca, sometimes.

"We should wait for Flueckli, though," Link said, as if to drive his point in. "I don't want to have to go over this twice."

"Fairy!" Irene barked, storming back into the motel. "You are needed."

"While we're waiting, does anyone have a back-up?" Kafei said.

Silence.

"Thank you for waking me up, Irene," chirped Flueckli as she emerged from the hotel. "It was awfully nice of you to think of me like that."

"Shut. Up."

"Wow, everyone's already up to go. It is an exciting day. I'll bet-"

"Fairy!"

Flueckli turned a dark perriwinkle and stopped talking.

"Plan. Go," Irene said, snapping her fingers.

And everyone was looking at him again. Link took a deep breath. "Ganon, Zelda, and I are all linked through the Triforce. I feel them. I'm sure they feel me. Ganon needs my part of the Triforce. There's probably already a team of Gerudo en route to capture me. So we just have to wait, and they'll do all the hard work for us."

"That's certainly the most straightforward plan I've ever heard," Rusl said.

"That's it, I'm going back to bed." Irene turned to the motel, but had not moved a foot when Rusl growled out her name. She sighed and turned back to the group.

"We can split up," Link continued. "He might not be fully abreast on the sage situation. Half can contact the Hylian military. Explain the situation. Flueckli can act as go-between for the two groups, so they don't try to bomb the Gerudo while I'm with them or anything. You can hide from the Gerudo, right?"

"I can vanish in your cap!"

Link chuckled, then shook his head. "First thing they'll do is search me. Can you follow at a distance?"

She slowly bobbed up and down, dimming further.

"How shall we split?" Aghreal said. "Kafei should stick with Link, perhaps."

Kafei shook his head. "I'm too useful for army half of the plan. Besides, you don't want someone slowing you down," he said, gesturing at his leg.

"Guess that makes two old cripples to talk to the Army," Rusl said.

"I could just start walking south alone," Link offered. "I'd be the only one captured. I'll just draw on your strength from a distance when it's time to fight Ganon."

"Please," Aghreal said, rolling her eyes. "Only Irene would believe you dumb enough to come completely alone."

"_What_?"

"Besides, it will be good to see my heritage."

"Okay, I honestly can't tell. Are we _joking_ about this?" Irene said.

Kafei raised his eyebrows. "We are all open to suggestions."

"Yeah, okay. Let's charge their hideout, set our hair on fire, and hope it's enough to burn 'em all to the ground. It's better than letting ourselves get flaming _captured_ while the two people with any bloody fighting experience whatsoever sit it out with HQ."

"We are likely safer getting captured, in the end," Aghreal said.

"What."

"The Gerudo are fiercely loyal to their king," Aghreal said.

"And he'll want y'all alive at least until he kills me," Link finished. "He'll want y'all to feel it."

"This does literally _nothing_ for my confidence."

"I'm inclined to agree with Aghreal. You two would be unlikely to fare well in our outpost," Kafei said. His gazed darkened. "Her especially."

"Look, they're on the move _now_. I'm getting some breakfast, some road rations, and then I'm leaving so the Gerudo don't find me in a populated area. Am I walking, or are you driving?"

Irene's gazed moved from person to person. At last, she sighed, deflating.

"You're my homework mule for the rest of _forever_ after this."


End file.
